Presentation of a problem/resolution to management of other units

I would be happy to help you. I was head of my unit-based shared governance council as an ICU nurse. Now, I work as a freelance writer. You may feel free to message me directly with any questions.

I will mention one specific anecdote that I found helpful one time when I was floated from ICU to a step-down unit. The charge nurse gave me a laminated index card with "need to know" information for the unit - codes to the break and supply rooms is what I mostly remember. I was also given a small gift bag as a thank you for helping out on the unit that day. I think it had a few pieces of candy and a gift card to the hospital cafeteria. Nothing big, but the gesture went a long way in making me feel appreciated.

2 hours ago, Cyra-Lea Drummond said:

I will mention one specific anecdote that I found helpful one time when I was floated from ICU to a step-down unit. The charge nurse gave me a laminated index card with "need to know" information for the unit - codes to the break and supply rooms is what I mostly remember. I was also given a small gift bag as a thank you for helping out on the unit that day. I think it had a few pieces of candy and a gift card to the hospital cafeteria. Nothing big, but the gesture went a long way in making me feel appreciated.

What a welcome change to the many various float-horror stories that I've heard over the years...

I suggest an SBAR format because many people in acute care are familiar with it.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the float stories have been terrible. I’m sure it happens in a lot of places, but icu nurses are viewed as able to work anywhere and we get abused. They will ask nurses to work extra days to fill the needs of icu and then pull icu nurses to other units on the same shift a nurse was asked to work extra. We have been pulled to another unit for their nurses to discharge patients then go home early. They will give icu nurses the sickest patients, give them more patients than their own nurses have, and will give them all of their patients on contact precautions. We have lost several good nurses over it.

suggesting little orientation packets for floated nurses, a resource nurse (charge free or discharge coordinator) to be accessible to floated nurses, restrictions on the number of patients, number of contact or incontinent patients, and requesting units to own their complex patients and and complex situations to promote consistency and best possible patient outcomes are among some of the things we are working to achieve

My tip would be to phrase everything as positively as possible and to avoid the temptation to convey the problem by rattling off or listing all the grievances. Remember the other side of it (keep it in the back of your mind): Distasteful as these grievances may be, they get off the ground because of other problems. The nurses who aren't treating others well are quite likely to not have been being treated well themselves. I'm not excusing them, I'm just saying it all isn't as simple as it seems.

I say your presentation should be a picture of what the future could/should look like as far as this topic is concerned. What do we want to strive for in welcoming others to our unit, etc., etc.

ETA: In other words, if the home-unit nurses have been feeling burdened, worn out and overworked, the worst possible thing is to inadvertently imply that every bad experience float nurses have had is because of them. In reality it just isn't.

If you want to make progress EVERYBODY probably needs to be empowered and built up.

Point well taken. Thank you for the feedback