Nursing Resource/Float Pools

[MQ Edna]

Is anyone familiar with nursing resource pools or float pools? I am setting one up. What suggestions do you have? Are there any articles or books or software programs you would recommend? What are some of the pros and cons? Does your hospital have a float pool?

[nsgsup]

Yes, our hospital has a float pool of nurses and nurses' aides. They are used on the medical, surgical-cancer, skilled nursing and pediatrics units and occasionally in ICU.

One suggestion I would offer is to keep their schedule separate from the floors. We had a problem with the nurse managers filling their "holes" with the float personnel which defeats the purpose of the float pool.

When filling the positions, make sure the candidates realize they won't have a true "home" unit. They may work several units in a week or be on the same unit for several days.

They truly must be flexible! Any other questions I can help with, send me an email.

[Janis Noone]

A friend of mine is a manager of an inhouse registry/float pool. If you write to me I can give you her name and phone number. Jan

[sam]

Originally posted by Janis Noone:

A friend of mine is a manager of an inhouse registry/float pool. If you write to me I can give you her name and phone number. Jan

I am a nursing supervisor and at our hospital the supervisors are also the Head Nurses to the float pool. We are in charge of the float pool staff. (performance evaluations, performance problems,counseling, etc.. Our float pool consists of RNs, Health care aides, and Secretaries,(which I find very useful). I find that a float pool with a few representatives from each job description is very useful. They do need a Head Nurse though so they have some sort of central leadership. Good Luck!