New Grad hired for Float pool

[Pleaides]

Well, I didn't hear last week whether I had been hired, so I figured not and sent out some resumes today. At 1705 I was informed that I had been hired at a place I had given up hope on, and that it was unusual to be hired as a new grad into float pool. Hey you experienced Nurses out there, should I be worried or just go for it. I really do want some hospital experience. I was a float Nurse at the LTC facility I worked at for 2 years and liked it, mainly because I didn't get totally bored in one place. All advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

It's hard to form an opinion without knowing about the orientation process. Did they address this in the interview? Where I work, nurses who are hired for float pool get 6-8 weeks (depending on the unit) orientation to each area and once their orientation is over, they are assigned based on need. We only hire experienced nurses into our float pool because of the fact that they don't get what any one unit would consider "adequate" orientation for a new graduate (most units orientation for new grads ranges from 10-13 weeks). Even at that, our NICU only gives floats non-critical patients because of the relatively short orientation (our new grads/new employees get 16 weeks). Not every unit takes things like that into consideration, though. Some really expect float nurses to be able to keep up with nurses who have much more experience/are familiar with the particular unit and they provide little to no backup for the float nurse (often just due to high acuity and low staffing). Each unit has its own culture.

It really comes down to what you are comfortable with, ie. how much orientation and back-up support YOU need to feel comfortable (everyone's answer to that one is different), and what areas you will be expected to work in.

I hope everything works out for you!

Edited to add - Take care of yourself and take care of your license. You worked hard for it. Make sure you get a good orientation no matter where you decide to work, be it in a float pool or not. There are far too many posts on these boards from new grads with broken spirits and crushed confidence, not because they do not have the potential to be awesome nurses, but because their employers skimped on their orientation, thus setting them up to fail.

[suzanne4, RN]

It will depend on your level of comfort........Will you be expected to float to all areas, or just a few.......

Will you float to peds? or be required to float to mother/Baby? Or be expected to float to ER or ICU? If any of these, make sure that they give you proper orientation beforehand, or you will sink before starting.

Yes, it is quite unusual to hire a new grad into a float pool..........just be careful.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

I think you need to get a few more specifics on this job. Like Suzanne 4 stated, it will make a big difference where you float. I used to float, we were trained on each unit, about 2 weeks. Some were better than others but, in general, it is the skill level of the floater and mix of patients that determines the shift. Remember, LTC is a lot different than acute care in rules and policy. Good luck and let us know what you do. :balloons: