Need to know if this happens at your facitlity?

Piper12 · Jul 11, 2007

In the last 25 years this has happened several times to me! It is so frustrating. Several years ago, I was "pulled" to a child and adolescent psych unit. A few minutes after going to the unit, I quietly called my husband and told him to call the unit stating there was an emergency from home!!! Since this was not the answer to the ongoing occurance, I found/did the following: 1. There is probably a clause or statement in your contract, at the time of your employment, that gives nursing administration the right to pull you as the need arises. "If you are a nurse, you qualify to work there" 2. I tried to fight being pulled explaining that I wasn't familiar with the unit but that didn't work for me. 3. So... I made it a point to talk to nurses that were familiar with the "dreaded" unit and got their perspective of nursing care, asked about their routine and took notes. I did everything I could to find positives about the unit. 4. I asked nursing admin if I could have a shift of orientation on the "dreaded" unit and I made sure I shadowed a nurse who knew the ropes. 5. After my orientation, nursing admin tried to pull me all the time, without rotating with other nurses. I stood for fairness and all us nurses had to take turns.

Here's the best part, I ended up really loving the experience of the once felt "dreaded unit" and became their Nurse Manager for 2 years.

puggymae · Jul 11, 2007

I used to get pulled all the time. I too was "just helping." Actually I was taking care of sick ICU patients, 30 med surg patients with 45 IV's to manage, or psych patients (the only licensed person with 40 patients).

At our hospital the nursing supervisor keeps a log in the nursing office of things that happen that could be sentinel events. When I was told to go to ICU one evening I told the house supervisor that I was going but that I wanted it noted in the log that she knew that I was not cross trained for that area, and that by my going to the Unit the situation was unsafe, but she was sanctioning the float.

I wrote a note stating the same and slipped it under my managers door and a copy under the door of human resources on my way to ICU.

Fifteen minutes after I got to ICU the nursing supervisor came and told me that they had called an ICU prn nurse to come in and that when he got there I could go back to my floor! Which is what should have been done to start with.

When I spoke with my manager she told me that if I wasn't going to float then they would call me off - which suits me better than floating to an unfamiliar unit.

hdhnurse · Jul 11, 2007

Yeah we don't get the choice of being called off anymore. We have to go to any unit where there is a shortage.

I guess what really upsets me is that the managers for the other depts. will schedule vacation days for their regular staff and not schedule a replacement always thinking that med surg will cover them.

The funny thing is when medsurg is swamped and short staffed no one from the other depts. will come and help us out.

The moral on the medsurg unit is at an all time low, we are told "too bad, suck it up, work where we tell you and it doesn't matter if you have to work short"

Then we get a huge lecture about our bad attitudes!!

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Jul 11, 2007

I left a hospital over mandatory float policies. I was floated to a NICU with no training and expected to do things I had no idea how to do (gavage feedings) and then floated to an oncology unit to hang chemotherapy. I just felt horribly inadequate with skills that I had no background in. I resigned and never worked in another facility with a mandatory float policy.

Floating went away many places in the late 80's and early 90's but I'm afraid it is coming back. I just never had the disposition to handle that.

ETA: I could have handled working as an extra or as an NA....but assignments? Without assistance in an untrained area? Recipe for disaster.

HappyNurse2005, RN · Jul 11, 2007

We have it, but in a different sense-being in labor/delivery we can only be floated to the women's/peds pod-l&d, mother baby, nicu, picu, or peds. and, we dont take an assignment, b/c the way the patient population goes in l&d, we could be needed back at any moment if several admissions come in.

the same, if anyone gets floated to us, they act as a NA, b/c they arent trained to function as a nurse on our unit,a nd it would be highly stupid and unsafe to expect any nurse to adequately function as a l&d nurse with no training on it whatsoever.

RNperdiem, RN · Jul 11, 2007

I work in a teaching hospital with a dedicated float pool. If there is floating, it is within a certain area. A surgical ICU may float to CCU or medical ICU,or a stepdown unit. I have never heard of floating to L&D or psych. I guess a larger hospital has a larger pool of nurses to pull from. I would not refuse a float outside my area as long as 1. I do not have a patient assignment. I will really help the other nurses and assist them, but I will not be the responsible nurse for that patient. I will not be more than a nursing assistant- and 2. I have made #1 statement clear to the nurses and the house supervisor who floated me there.

bill4745, RN · Jul 12, 2007

We are required to float and give care that we are capable of. ICU and tele nurses are expected to work on a M/S floor in the capacity of a M/S nurse. Occasionally, a tele nurse will float to ICU, but is given very stable patients and offered assistance, or they act as helpers. Almost anyone may float to ED, but they almost always act as helpers, or a tele/ICU nurse might take patients they are familiar with (chest pain, CHF, etc) after they are worked up and waiting for admission.

hdhnurse · Jul 12, 2007

My facility is a pretty small one. Our med surg unit is comprehensive with tele pts, peds, geriatrics, post-op and mediacal pts. on the same floor.

The hospital started a float pool at the beginning of this year and offered a $2.00 per hour bonus for anyone that agreed to be trained and float to a different dept.

But they said that not enough people signed up for the float pool and decided that everyone should float but not get the extra pay.

Also our charge nurses don't get paid extra and I just found out today that we are being timed on how long it takes us to call the ED and report if we are getting an admission. We are required to do this within one half hour regardless of what is going on with our team.

Also the charge nurse is supposed to be the admission nurse and she is required to work the desk at times and read the monitor strips.

Our nursing assistant population is dwindling and we have been required to do primary care in the last week or so.

I am sorry to sound like I am whining but I used to love the hospital where I worked because I felt like they actually valued us but now I just feel like they don't give a crap.

I am actually trying to find a way to quit nursing all together and get out of the stress.

purple1953reading · Jul 12, 2007

As CCU charge , I had to float any and everywhere including L&D, but we were only given post partum, or peds(which wereon the same unit.). I did not care so much that I floated, but that three nurses from L&D sat at the desk, and I was the only person with patients. One had a early labor patient, one had nursery, but all babies stayed with moms when somebody was in labor .. We also had to float to tele. In fact, one time I was scheduled CCU, there were no patients, but tele had one patient, THEY MADE ME FLOAT, and let her go home, in case we got a ccu patient, she could not float to ccu. We had a prn staff for that if needed.

At another hospital, they got call offs and floats on a rotational basis. BUT there was a L&D nurse required to be in the hospital whether or not there was a patient in OB, and as house super. I could float her to MS if needed, or to ER, to help out. Some nights we did not need her at all but she just sat around. I could not send home a MS nurse, as a OB might walk in. They also had one OB nurse on call each night. IF we were extremely busy, we could call and ask the call OB nurse, but she could refuse to come in

I am pleased that the bigger hospitals have developed float pools, along with IV pools, etc. BUT as a patient on an ortho floor, where I had ALL float nurses, I had really poor care. When I wrote a letter to the director of the unit, she used the float percentage of 65% for her staff as the excuse.

It is not safe to float to areas where you are not familiar, but they could utilize RNs to pass meds, do treatments, etc, and free up the regular staff enough, to let them handle a few more patients among themsleves. With somebody handling meds, prn meds, maybe doing admit paper work on new patients, etc. a nurse could take another patient. Not optical, but not as unsafe. The unsafe areas , are usually the speciality. They told us we had ACLS

The best solution is a float pool, but not all hospitals have enough employees. \

At one rural hospital, we had to be scheduled 3 12, a week, and receiveda STAR, by our name for a fourth. That meant that an hour before the shift, the star person called in to see if they were needed. IF not needed by the start of the shift, they were off call. IF needed early in the day, the day charge, had somebody call and let them know asap. At least there was always somebody available.

steelcityrn, RN · Jul 12, 2007

Asking someone if they would float to a unit (specialty) that they have never worked in before is one thing, but using threats of being fired is ludicrous! The patients deserve better also.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Jul 12, 2007

I worked on med-surg for over 25 years. We always had to float. I hated it. I would go to areas where I didn't have any experience. What made me mad is that I found out just several years ago that CCU and OB both only floated full time and part time. Their PRN's didn't have to float if they didn't want to. I was PRN most of those years although I usually worked full time hours. I think the float policy should be the same throughout each department.

I work in medical imaging now. I get pulled from outpatient imaging to CT in hospital all the time but don't mind it at all because the job is basically the same, the co-workers are friendly and appreciative of the help and I get a break from the same day to day stuff. I was told from the beginning that I would be between the two departments. I have floated to cath lab and the pain clinic but was asked first if I wanted to, without pressure, and they were also nice and very appreciative.

When I floated to different depts in the hosp the co-workers were not nice, helpful or appreciative and when they came to med-surg all they did was gripe for 12 hours.