So we just renewed our union contract and they agreed to have mandatory float to ICU for all new hires and the current staff can "opt-in" or "opt-out", so this means if the ICU is "low-censused" they will float down to us but won't take care of Ped's, OB, or psych. In the never seen before "low-census" for us we would float up there. I can't believe our weak union agreed to this...at first management wanted all of us to be required to float but of course settled for all new hires from both departments and an optional program for us.
I just was wondering how many other hospitals are doing this? Management was able to name two hospitals that are doing it, one in Vegas and the other in So-Cal...both by the way non-union.
I have heard of critical care float pools a lot but to have core staff and all new hires float sounds different to me. Currently we have 12 positions we have been unable to fill I wander how long they will be listed when they add the ICU float requirement to them.
I work L&D in a military hospital. When our census is low we invariably get pulled to other units to include ICU, which we are NOT crosstrained to do. However we rarely (if ever) get nurses to float to us, which I understand completely. We would never give a pt assignment to a nurse who was not trained in L&D.
I was floated to ICU last night initially to sit with a suicidal pt, but then I was pulled to take a pt assignment. I told the charge nurse I would help out on the floor with drawing labs, running labs, copying charts you name it but I did not feel comfortable taking a pt assignment. Her response was "Well you are a nurse, aren't you? We float all over the hospital all time." Ummm yup I am, an L&D nurse. Before I could point out that they do not float to L&D and we would never expect them to take a pt assignment she had walked away. So I go to the nurse that I would be working with in the ICU that I was not comfortable taking a pt assignement and proceeds to tell me to set up a room for a new admit that I would be taking. GRRRRRR. Well before I had a chance to protest and figure out what the next step would be the charge nurse had informed me she found a nurse who felt more comfortable in the ICU and I went back to L&D.
LDRNMOMMY, BSN, RN
327 Posts
I work L&D in a military hospital. When our census is low we invariably get pulled to other units to include ICU, which we are NOT crosstrained to do. However we rarely (if ever) get nurses to float to us, which I understand completely. We would never give a pt assignment to a nurse who was not trained in L&D.
I was floated to ICU last night initially to sit with a suicidal pt, but then I was pulled to take a pt assignment. I told the charge nurse I would help out on the floor with drawing labs, running labs, copying charts you name it but I did not feel comfortable taking a pt assignment. Her response was "Well you are a nurse, aren't you? We float all over the hospital all time." Ummm yup I am, an L&D nurse. Before I could point out that they do not float to L&D and we would never expect them to take a pt assignment she had walked away. So I go to the nurse that I would be working with in the ICU that I was not comfortable taking a pt assignement and proceeds to tell me to set up a room for a new admit that I would be taking. GRRRRRR. Well before I had a chance to protest and figure out what the next step would be the charge nurse had informed me she found a nurse who felt more comfortable in the ICU and I went back to L&D.