"I'm not floating."

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

Yup. Unfortunately, sometimes in the facility we have need of nurses on other floors and hey, did you really want to be called off and lose more time? Trust me, the supervisor and I put thought into who gets floated - most importantly, if it's the person's turn to float, if they are a good fit for that particular specialty floor, do they have experience in that specialty, and so on.

I'm really tired of having my head bitten off when the next shift comes in and says "I'm not ******* floating" and then calls the supervisor to get the same explanation I give them, and they ALWAYS end up huffing off to their float floor with a monstrous attitude a half an hour after their shift started.

Is it like this everywhere? I feel like my unit's RNs have a bad reputation for floating because they make such a stink about it and it's so obvious they don't want to float. In the interest of full disclosure, I used to get really upset about floating as a new grad, but I made an attitude adjustment once I realized it sets a tone for your whole shift when you show up to your float floor with a miserable attitude.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

I had coworkers at a place I used to work who would refuse to float. If our commander got on their ***** about it, they'd call in sick. On nights, they'd try to make the military float out of turn. It was ridiculous.

Most people don't like to float. It represents a disruption of an already chaotic job. But for heaven's sake, when the time comes and it's your turn, suck it up and drive on!

[julz68]

I'm a new grad who has only been off orientation a few weeks so I won't be required to float for a year, but I have been a CNA for many years and I have an idea why some nurses hate to float. I've seen nurses float to my previous unit and they kind of get dumped on. They don't know much about the unit they're floating to, don't know where supplies are, expected to take all the new admits etc. As an aide I always felt sorry for the floats and tried my best to help them out the best I could. I think people would be more receptive to floating if they could have a mini orientation to all the floors they would be required to float to. When a nurse is hired into the float pool, they have 6 weeks on each floor for orientation so they know how all the units work. If nurses that are hired on specific floors could at least have one week on each floor it would make it less stressful. Just my opinion.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

We kept a book to record floats, listed by nurse. If they called for a float, we looked to see who'd been the longest without floating. That was the only thing that seemed fair, and that's who went unless someone wanted to go to a particular unit for a change of scenery that day (it happened).

[Palliative Care, DNP]

Our unit has a list of who is supposed to float too. Does it always get followed? Not so much. I float though because it is an $3.00/hour for me. Floor nursing in general is ghastly in my opinion so it doesn't matter what unit I am on. I do however refuse the ER as I had a horrendous night there when I was floated.

[eatmysoxRN, ASN, RN]

We don't have a choice. We don't find out we're being pulled until we are already there. We take turns but sometimes half of our staff will be pulled to work other units. No extra pay. No one gets orientation to the other units, not even the ICU. In my facility a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

We kept a book to record floats, listed by nurse. If they called for a float, we looked to see who'd been the longest without floating. That was the only thing that seemed fair, and that's who went unless someone wanted to go to a particular unit for a change of scenery that day (it happened).

That's exactly what we do, it's not randomized. Even when I say, listen, the other nurses all floated in the past week and you haven't been floated for a month, I still get "I don't care, I'm not floating".

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

We don't have a choice. We don't find out we're being pulled until we are already there. We take turns but sometimes half of our staff will be pulled to work other units. No extra pay. No one gets orientation to the other units, not even the ICU. In my facility a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.

I didn't know you could get paid extra to float! Maybe then people would be more receptive

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

Most people don't like change, and it takes them a while to wrap their brain around it. If I came into work thinking I was working my unit, and saw my name listed as a float it'd take me a minute to process it. We get stuck in our routines. I'm new to hospital nursing and haven't had to float yet, but when I was an LPN charge nurse in LTC and had to tell my CNA's they had to float all hell would break loose. Then at the end of their 45 minute fit they'd either storm off to that unit or I'd be writing them up. If there's a list and it's your turn to float then I suppose you should go float and get it over with.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

I didn't mind floating. Sometimes there were floors I hated to go to. Most of the time when I floated in the ICU the floor I was floated to was kind to us not giving us a super sick assignment or even an admit. I volunteered to take an admit once in awhile. I have also volunteered to float once in awhile too.

[MunoRN, RN]

I don't mind floating since I like the variety. I do think it's important to understand why Nurses don't like to float. Usually it's because it makes it much harder to provide the level of care Nurses expect to be able to provide, which is a totally legitimate concern. I sympathize with Nurses who don't like to provide substandard care when I have to float them. If you listen to what they mean when they say "I'm not floating", which is "I don't like subjecting patients to inferior care", then it's hard to criticize.

[CrystalSSA]

I have seen nurses huff off the floor when they come to the unit I work on and see the patient load. They dont seem to realize that on their stepdown unit, they are required to do a lot of things that I do not have to do for a patient.