ICU RNs floated to floors?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

So lately our managers have been floating us out to the med surg floors if they have holes. Well get floated instead of being on call. I'm getting so sick of it and so is everyone else. Does your hospital do this? What are your thoughts?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I haven't been in the ICU enough to see this but I do know we can be floated to stepdown floors with a 3:1 ratio... while previously working a stepdown unit if we were floated our max patio ratio became 4:1 (1 more patient than our normal ratio)

So I imagine if while working the ICU if I were floated to med/surg it would be an extremely long and boring night with a 3:1 ratio.. we would not be expected to take the normal med/surg patient ratio.

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My old employer did this with ICU nurses. Generally they did admission assessments and task nursing, no patient load incase they were needed back in ICU.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I haven't been in the ICU enough to see this but I do know we can be floated to stepdown floors with a 3:1 ratio... while previously working a stepdown unit if we were floated our max patio ratio became 4:1 (1 more patient than our normal ratio)

So I imagine if while working the ICU if I were floated to med/surg it would be an extremely long and boring night with a 3:1 ratio.. we would not be expected to take the normal med/surg patient ratio.

Yess I have 3 very easy patients (1 more than my usual 2) and it's been a super slow night.

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1. We get floated when the need arises.

2. We tend to get the more difficult pts, frequent flyers, or the ones on precautions.

We complain about #2, don't mind #1. I'd rather float and get my regular pay than be on call at $3.00 an hour. This is the general consensus on our unit. For the record, we do take on the patient ratio of the unit we float to, so 5-1 on tele, 7-1 on med-surg.

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whats wrong with it

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

Everybody floats everywhere where I work. It didn't start out that way. Slowly over the last year or so, we've ended up where as long as you're a nurse, you can be floated to any nursing opening.

It's been very hard on morale.

I can't decide if the ICU nurses working med/surg are the most unhappy, or if it's the med/surg nurses going to the ED.

Being bored is better than being scared any day of the week.

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Specializes in Mental Health Nursing.
Everybody floats everywhere where I work. It didn't start out that way. Slowly over the last year or so, we've ended up where as long as you're a nurse, you can be floated to any nursing opening.

It's been very hard on morale.

I can't decide if the ICU nurses working med/surg are the most unhappy, or if it's the med/surg nurses going to the ED.

Being bored is better than being scared any day of the week.

That's unsafe. Med/surg nurses floating to ICU? Couldn't pay me enough. Just one of the reasons why I jumped board over to psych. SMH.

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I am a med-surg nurse who gets floated to ICU on a regular basis. My facility made everyone take a rhythm interpretation course for that reason. All for one, huh? I guess it's better than being sent home.

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Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care.

I don't know. I feel like ICU nurses can pretty much work anywhere if they are oriented to the unit. It just can't happen the other way around though.

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Specializes in ICU.

No, they will ask for volunteers if the floors are in a bad way though.

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I can take PCU patients as well as a med-surg that gets sent to ICU. All the while I am gaining ICU experience. It can happen the other way around!

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