Forced to float?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

I am curious - how many of you are forced to float off of L&D/PP/NSY to another floor when you have low census? So far, in 13 yrs I have only been forced to go to Peds a handful of times, but nowhere else. We are facing this issue for the first time on my present unit - it was a brand new LDRP unit when I arrived almost 2 yrs ago, and administration has pretty much left us alone until now. We are not being forced, but... our manager lets us know that at every administration meeting she is reminded that every other floor floats except us. There are enough L&D jobs out there so that I will NOT float, period, end of story, and I think my manager has made it pretty clear to our administration that is the general consensus of our nurses. Is this why we L&D nurses always get that primadonna label everywhere I've worked:confused:

But, all this recent hubbub at my job has got me wondering what the norm is elsewhere... so, do you or don't you?

Linda

Originally posted by fergus51

Thanks for defending my point of view KDAY.

While I do CEUs, they are in the field of L&D or PP or antepartum because that's where I work. Saying I was trained in school is ridiculous. I was on med surg floors, sure, but would you want to have a nurse looking after you who hadn't done med/surg for years? (also I should point out my med/surg rotations only comprised about 18 weeks of my clinical time).

Like I said, I will help out the nurses by doing vitals, dressing changes, caths, IVs, calling docs, doing baths, admits and discharges, etc. That frees up a lot of their time (so they only have to do the assessments and meds which I do not feel comfortable doing) while keeping the patients safe. Believe me there is no shortage of tasks for me to do.

Okay, not all nurses get Med/Surg as thier foundation even in school. I did, we had over 3 times the required clinicals to sit for baords in my program! As far as the issue of CEU's I do mine in Women's Health, so to an extent I would feel comfortable. As far as my Doula experience i think it would be very helpful as all OB Nurses are Doulas, to an extent! I attached a list of my CEU's for this renewal period. These are not all OB but they are Women's Health related. If I was to work in a hospital I am sure they would have more Med/Surg CEU's like "Limited I V Therapy" and a Pharm update! But if I was to get to work (Float) in L&D, PP, Well Baby, or NICU, I would also have these type of CEU's also! It is a matter of "preparedness" that will benefit clients needs and my desires. Before I get all the slack I know you want to dish out since you are upset with being floated, respect my dream of the perfect job too! And the perfect Nurse!

Thank you,

very much!

Jami

continuing education list 36.txt

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

well i stumbled along this post and thread.........won't say how........although someone knows......and yes to them, it's after 6:30pm friday, but i was kinda bored.

anyways, someone said 99.9% of all other nurses would freak if asked to float to l&d. i disagree.......it would not bother me in the slightest..........actually......i worked in er for 5 years now...and floated med surg twice......would much rather float to l&d :) despite not really wanting to look at prego crotches all shift........ :) me

CEN35--Your comment about not wanting to "look at prego crotches" all day is offensive. Be careful how you refer to female patients and female anatomy.

I was a maternal-child health nurse for many years and got floated all over the hospital. It never got easier, only harder. Some of my floating experiences were awful! I agree with fergus51, that med-surg has become a very specialized area and is no longer considered to be the "foundation" of nursing. Floating, was at the top of my list of reasons why I left bedside nursing a few years ago.

Jami--I think you will find when you become a L&D nurse, that it is

a nursing speciality that is like no other. There is so much to learn and I know you will throw yourself into it wholeheartedly. Every CEU class will be geared towards fine tuning your L&D skills. Mark my words, there will come a day, after many years of working as a L&D nurse, that you will walk on a med-surg floor and feel that you are in foreign land. It's not so much the med-surg skills, but the whole med-surg routine and environment.

I really think that hospitals need to have very specific floating policies that are geared toward safety and respect for nurses and what we do. A nurse is a nurse just isn't true. I have always like the idea of sister units, where 3 somewhat related units are grouped together and floating is closed to the staff on those 3 units. So, you are not randomly floating all over the hospital, but just to your 2 sister units. That way you become somewhat familar with atleast 2 other units in the hospital besides your own.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Fiesty- If I didn't know Rick that well, I might be offended at his comment - but really, he didn't mean much by it. There is always going to be rivalry between nursing specialties: I joke with my ICU friend Jim that all he does is push meds and suction, and I joke with Rick that all he does in ER is give some amoxicillin for ear aches. I think also that most ER nurses would feel slightly more comfortable AT FIRST floating to L&D, only because, depending on the ER, they might actually have some experience in emergent deliveries. Now MY ER, for example, are a bunch of idiots. The other day they called to report a patient that had arrived and appeared that she was "ready to push" so they put her in an exam room to check her. Which is highly unusual for them. So..they check her and call us back to report that they are sending her up, and they are all breathless, stating that she is 40% effaced. WHAAAAT??? Kday, I know you are laughing at this.

Well the patient comes up and she is 6cm and 100% - needless to say they were waaaaaaayyyy off on the lady partsl exam. I think though, the lesson to be learned, is that despite all the quick knowledge we get in nursing school, the knowledge we pick up in our clinical areas far surpasses what we got in school. Also, the longer we work in our specialty areas, the more and more focused we get on that area and the more removed we get from any other area of nursing.

And Kday, kudos again for a wonderful post.

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

feisty? i didn't in any way mean to offend anyone. i just spoke the way i feel......and being we are all grown up here, and in the same field.....i figured i could phrase it the way i first thought it......without being blasted by someone. well i was wrong.........sorry......i am out!

I know we are getting off the topic of floating here, but, I guess I started it? Right? Rick, I know we are all grown-ups here and that is why I let you know that your comment offended me, that's all. I didn't think that I was "blasting" you. I have experienced some pretty offensive things over the years as an Ob nurse and have become very protective of my female patients. I use to tolerate the remarks that male doctors would say as they were sewing up an episiotomy, turning to the husband and joking about putting in a "few extra stitches to make her good and tight." I have heard some of the rudest comments directed at pregnant women and I just don't put up with it anymore! It doesn't matter if we are in "the same field." For me that makes it all the more worse. I hope you understand where I am coming from. Please don't take it personal, because I do like you.

Peace Rick!

originally posted by cen35

well i stumbled along this post and thread.........won't say how........although someone knows......and yes to them, it's after 6:30pm friday, but i was kinda bored.

anyways, someone said 99.9% of all other nurses would freak if asked to float to l&d. i disagree.......it would not bother me in the slightest..........actually......i worked in er for 5 years now...and floated med surg twice......would much rather float to l&d :) despite not really wanting to look at prego crotches all shift........ :) me

okay rick said this and i have read all the replies to this "misgynogmy" statement. i think though he was just stating a fact this would not be his preference much like for some of you to work urology or endo would not be pleasant. i am sure if someone said something like "despite not really wanting to look at orificeholes or male members all shift........ :) (add your derogatory word for these here) there would not have been such a reaction. if he had said "despite not really wanting to look at bulging or edematous vulvas all shift........ :) it would have been better! i know (i think) what he was saying and it was from his pov (maybe biased as a male). but i know it was not meant to be offense too! it is not his cup of tea, would have been a nicer way to say what he meant!:rolleyes:

O.K. this is surely turning into a "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" discussion.

Right or wrong, kids, we DO get the prima donna label. I've worked in Maternal/Child Health for the past 10 years, and since I work in a small hospital, floating is a fact of life. Yes, our staff has to go to Peds, med/surg and ICU, but by the same token, we get help from the other units when we are drowning. Am I entirely comfortable on other units? No. Will I continue to take a team when I am asked? Well ...yes. Usually, the other units are so grateful for any assistance that they don't mind giving me patients that are within my comfort zone. Who among us can say they don't know how to care for a diabetic, or a basic abdominal surgery patient? We do it all the time on our own units!!! By helping out in other areas, we can broaden our own knowledge base, and assure ourselves of cheerful, WILLING assistance when we need it! :)

Just an illustration of why I think working with patients you aren't used to is wrong:

One of my friends works on the gyne unit. It's supposed to be gyne, but they have been getting everything lately. Basically if the patient is a woman she can go to gyne. They had a woman come down after some sort of back surgery (laminectomy or something or other) and the gyne nurses are not used to getting these so her nurse didn't even know to do the neurovital signs. It was a student who pointed it out. A big hoopla ensued. They have been having the same problems with nurses not knowing to check the CWMS of ortho patients (almost missed a caseof compartment syndrome) or knowing how to deal with the cancer patients. Clearly if a nurse works in a specialized area for years it can be difficult to keep their skills up. I wouldn't want such a nurse caring for me.

I do float from L&D to NICU, Nsy, Postpartum, Antepartum units. Period.

I have never worked med/surg (which I really think should be a specialty all its own!) so am not skilled in passing meds on schedule for 16 pts+, rounding w/ MDs, etc........... I could go to a med/surg unit & function well as a glorified bedmaker, call light answerer, mealtime tray passer, etc. but to count on me to function as equal to a staff member, no way!

Likewise, for an RN to float to L&D would be the same! They could be alot of help, but not truely replace a staff member!

:D

To read what each of you has written is enlightening.

I read this BB because I wanted to see if Maternal Child nurses were as frustrated with floating into Med/Surg as I am at having to float into their field.

At the institution where I work -- our general surgery unit (Med/Surg) handles all of the gyne surgeries. A previous director said "Hey these are the same MD's -- so our nurses can 'orient' to post-partum and take care of the moms and babies."

It sounded like a good idea at the time -- but is it? Most of us are so uncomfortable there. The only patients we feel even remotely at ease caring for are the C-sections.

Recently our dilemma came to a head when a nurse with more than 5 years experience QUIT rather than being floated to that unit.

My question to you is -- do you want me, with 14 years of experience caring for med/surg patients caring for your post-partum patients? I have only tried to reinforce my own field in my continuing education focus.

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