I really guess I would just like to hear some opinions about something that happened to one of my fellow nurses. I'll try to make it short.
One of the 7a - 7P L&D nurses came onto her shift to be floated to med-surg. Bear in mind that this young lady has never worked med-surg a day in her life.
We have been told recently that if we are floated, we may be asked to take a couple of low accuity patients so that if we are needed in our own area we can quickly hand then off to another nurse. None of us has had any orientation to med-surg, other than to occasionally help out as a "runner", and our L&D is staffed with a MAXIMUM of two nurses per shift. Only if there is a second nurse are we expected to take patients.
Back to my co-worker ... She came in at 7a and was to be floated. She was already upset that she would have to take patients because she had very rarely been over there to work at all, but she held her head up and went anyway. When she got there, she started taking report. After two patients, the offgoing nurse continued. The L&D nurse stated that she was only supposed to have two patients. The offgoing supervisor told her that she was going to take a full load - that the med-surg manager had approved it through the CNO.
My co-worker became upset and told the nurse supervisor that she had to go to the restroom (she didn't want anyone to see her crying). After coming out of the restroom, she told the supervisor that she would be right back, that she really needed to speak to the L&D nurse manager, who's office is just down the hall from med-surg.
When she got there, the NM wasn't in yet, and she ran into the CNO, who told her that she needed to wait for the L&D NM to get there so they could talk about the situation. The nurse was still visibly upset, so she thought they were just going to maybe work out a compromise of some sort.
When the L&D NM got there, she was taken into the CNO's office, told that she had abandoned her patients, and escorted off the property by security with the NM telling her that she was going to report her to the BON.
The other nurses were still taking report and hadn't even been on the floor to see their pt's yet, and she had told the supervisor that she would be right back, which she had every intention of doing.
That night, another L&D nurse was pulled and was given a full load also - without any form of orientation. I guess I'm just wondering if I have lost perspective of the whole incident and was wondering how you guys feel about it.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
We would love to be a closed unit and not float. I can't remember the last time we had nurses float to our unit so why should we have to staff theirs???
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This is a question I would demand my manager answer. Indeed, you should NOT float if they won't float anyone to YOU.
Specializes in Med/surg, ER/ED,rehab ,nursing home.
Where I work, the L& D nurses are worked as a tech. Just vital signs, pass water, wipe a bottom. They are not familiar with our medications. Of course I was floated to Post Partum ONCED and really had to dust off the brain cells to remember what to do and look for. Boy was I happy to have one of the older moms have noisy lungs...just a bad cold with bronchitis, but that part of the patient was a whole lot more familiar to me than the reproductive parts. By the way, you are not legally considered to have abandoned your patients UNLESS you accept the assignment.! This thru the BON in Tennessee.
Looking at your staffing of 2 per shift I assume you are at a rural hospital. I am also at a rural hospital and we have the same issues. I oversee the maternal child and ICU areas. The MCH nurses do float to MS but they DO NOT take an assignment. It took me almost 3 years to win that war. Several of my nurses were MS nurses prior to coming to MCH. IF they are comfortable then they can volunteer to take a small assignment. It has to be uncomplicated because of the possibility of having to hand off the patients with short notice. What routinely happens is the nurses are assigned tasks such as glucs, VS, baths, dressing changes and admission interviews. They do not get bogged down with meds other than pain meds because we all know how complicated meds have become. If you would like a copy of our floating policy send me a private message and I will be happy to fax it to you.
I agree with all the above replys. I had the same sit., but was pulled to cardiac step-down where there was only 1 other nurse on for 25 patients. I was expected to take half the floor. I refused and was sent home without pay for 3 days by the DON. I did leave the hospital. Don't work for a hospital who thinks so little of their patients welfare and their nursing staff.
Sorry to hear about your co-worker. I work in a small hospital that opened a little under a year ago. I was the only L&D nurse in the hospital for the first 3 months that we were opened. Probably because I did M/S for a few months almost 9 yrs ago. Our L&D unit is small with 4 LDRP's. When we first opened, the M/S manager told me that we would be expected to float and that we WOULD take a team of pts, after being told when I interviewed that we would only be expected to help.
Our nurse mgr fought the floating and finally said that we would float but be would take a small team of pts with the lowest acuity, or pts that were being discharged. Well that didn't happen. We were constantly given high acuity pts. At that point I decided to return to the hospital were I came from.
After being back at my hospital for 6 months the girls at the other hospital kept trying to get me to come back. I finally agreed after promises of "things have changed" and needing to change my schedule to weekend nights I agreed to transfer back. (The hospitals are owned by the same company).
Well guess what things hadn't changed. I really don't have a problem going to M/S to help when they need it, I have and will continue to help. But I will not go over to take a team of pts when I do not know what I am doing.
Since we have finally started getting busier, and we have very few staff as it is and after threats of everyone leaving the nurse mgr and CNO have finally said that we don't have to float. Maybe now we can get some staff hired. I still get nervous when I come to work, since I am here by myself most of the time. I am always afraid that they will try to pull me. I don't want to refuse but I don't want to risk my license or the pts either.
Anyway, I hope everything works out at your hospital and for your friend.
we don't float to med-surg because it is considered a dirty unit and can not return to L&D with out changing clothes and showering...
Our L&D is semi closed unit.. we have to float to Post partum, they do not float to us... we only do chores do not take an assignment in case we need to return to L&D.. often they want us to take an assignment, we don't.
If the med surg floor needs help they will float a PP nurse and an L&D nurse needs to float to PP....
It is so unsafe to go to medsurg.. have done 21 years of L&D and did med surg for 2... can't even begin to think how I would handle such a situation...unsafe, unsafe... unsafe...
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
This is a question I would demand my manager answer. Indeed, you should NOT float if they won't float anyone to YOU.