EasyDoesIt5692

Thanks from me too, I also printed it and will use the info as backup for further discussions and floating incidents. I'm sure that when management needs to put their licenses on the line-they will be singing a different story.

Sure, but I'm 53 years old now and with all the downsizing we have become more like an outpatient surgery center, M-F, Weekends & holidays off, very little call, after over 35 yrs in the nursing profession, I feel I've earned this position finally. I've checked with our union, and I can have whoever is in charge/supervising sign that I have informed them of my concerns and therefore if they order me to take the patient load they will go down with me. I haven't given them the alternative of a mandatory cross-train according to any other nurse who has never worked in our facility. I'm currently exploring other options, too, legal nursing, maybe leave OR nursing altogether--there are usually some kind of options-just a matter of one I think I can live with. Thanks for the empathy--I (and others) have also stated that OR nurses usually to not float out-but the times they are a changing.:thankya:

Dear Kattsrn: I guess it depends on your location in the country. I work in a small city hospital and after RN school went directly into ER and then for the last 18 years have worked in the OR-PACU. I'm currently stressed out as our hospital has downsized and now the large corporation that bought us wants us to "float" to the Med-surg floor and since I do not have med-surg cross-training, feel that I'm not qualified to do so-however, that hasn't stopped them from saying that I work for the corporation and they can send me anywhere they want! I know that ethically and legally I am not qualified--but they seem to think that 2-4 days orientation and student experience is enough to be assigned a 3-4 patient care assignment. The only thing that may help me is that I was a previous LPN with med-surg experience even though it has been 26 yrs in the interim. Good Luck, I love OR nursing-it is where I belong, however, if you are just starting out, I recommend the basic med-surg nursing for 6 months-1year, just because you never know what the future will bring. I had no idea I would come full circle once I entered acute care, and now it's coming back to haunt me.

I've run into a situation that has been plaquing me for two years. Our facility(like many others) has gradually downsized over the last 25 years of my employment, and I, like many LPNs, went back to RN school and graduated in 1980. I am currently an 18 year OR-PACU nurse, and before that an 7 year ER nurse in a small city hospital. My dilemma is that now that we have been bought out by a much larger corporation, and our case load in OR is smaller, in order to cover our current inpatient/swing bed unit with nurses for patient care, they are "floating" us to the general Med-Surg unit. I am extremely uncomfortable with this as I have never had any formal cross-training to floor nursing as an RN, only as an LPN. A month before graduating from RN school I transferred from an ortho-neuro floor to PACU for one year in a 350 bed hospital and never did an RN "basic nurse cross-training on a med-surg floor". I do not feel qualified to be dealing with a patient care assignment in the Med-Surg area of nursing without going thru a formal cross-training period. Our hospital feels that because I've been working-that I, with a few days (4) orientation, should be able to assume all the ethical and legal responsibilies of an RN in this area of nursing, I do not agree, there have been too many changes in nursing in the last 25 years for me to do this with only a student RN education, training, & experience to fall back on. If anyone has had this same problem and has any suggestions for me, please, I would certainly appreciate it. I've come to the conclusion that the only way to protect my license and patients is to have the charge nurse and supervisor of the Med-surg floor sign a paper that states I have informed them of my concerns regarding my qualifications and then hope for the best. I'm currently 53 years old and love OR nursing, it took me 15 years to fiqure that out, however, it may be time for a change in my career. Thanks again for any suggestions. EasyDoesIt5692