pegg rn

floating has been a big issue for my fellow icu nurses and i. we are often sent to the step down unit to charge as they have no staff for this unit. more times than not we are given agency or float pool nurses to work with. we are expected to charge a very busy unit and orient someone else at the same time to hospital procedure, charting, etc. in a unit that we ourselves are not even familiar with. this is an 8 bed unit and we are asked to charge and take 4 pts, and have only one other nurse on the unit besides ourselves. no secretery, no aid. even worse, we are often supplied with and lvn, who in our hospital, can not give ivp meds, therefore we must give them. we are also expected to read and document in the charting that we agree with the lvn's assessment, and make changes if we don't. it is like taking all the pt's ourselves! the acuity of this unit is often high. at any given time time you may have pt's that are on critical drips, q2 blood sugars or bp's, and some that should be over in the icu. it is very easy to feel overwhelmed.! anyone else in a similar situation? any suggestions?