"I'm not floating."

[Morainey]

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.

[Trevor Piper]

This is why nurses get walked all over by the hospital. People on this post acting like it’s their duty to get floated off of floors out of their specialty. Really, it’s a great way to make a medical error and lose your license. Dealing with a patient population you’re  not familiar and equipment that you are not because your hospital doesn’t  mind gambling with house money. It’s your license, what do they care?  And frankly, I wouldn’t float for $3/hour extra. Wouldn’t touch it for less than time and 1/2. I’d rather make somewhat less at a hospital that never floats me than work at a hospital that does.

 

and like someone has already said, they overstaff good floors and start using them as float pools. The old bait and switch, you’re going to be a psych nurse but really your a float nurse that we tricked into being here. I’m disappointed in what nursing has become, everywhere I look, nurses afraid to advocate for their patients and theirselves. No unions, allow hospitals to use us as doormats: float here, take out trash, change linens, do dietary work, do house keeping, do stocking. Grow a backbone.

[CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN]

20 hours ago, Trevor Piper said:

This is why nurses get walked all over by the hospital. People on this post acting like it’s their duty to get floated off of floors out of their specialty. Really, it’s a great way to make a medical error and lose your license. Dealing with a patient population you’re  not familiar and equipment that you are not because your hospital doesn’t  mind gambling with house money...

... No unions, allow hospitals to use us as doormats: float here, take out trash, change linens, do dietary work, do house keeping, do stocking. Grow a backbone.

This is a an old thread from 2013 and 2015. But figured I'd respond.  

When I worked on my first unit, it was in a union hospital. Some days we would be "overstaffed", and our options would be float or go home. We had a float book and the person that had floated the longest time ago was up for that shift. Unless we offered. My unit was pretty hard, and I actually started to enjoy floating. I went from geriatric medicine (5 incontinent people that want to swallow pills 1 at a time) to either a medical psych unit (think ill dialysis patients with schizophrenia - but we would get the 'more' medical patients, less acute psych) or another 'med-surg' unit, or my favorite was holding boarding patients in the ED. It was a nice chance to see how other units work, in my case see younger patients with other comorbidities. I would offer to float. (Though, sometimes it would be a 4 hour float, then come back for 8 hours)..  Regardless, I liked it.  After that job, my next job was in a float pool in a different hospital, and it was great and helped make me a stronger nurse by learning/knowing more things!

The last part is funny to me though. I read a few civil war nurse books. The nurses in those days of course did the laundry (washing the gauze for wounds!), cooking the meals (and feeding the patients), and dealing with the linens for the "beds" (or sometimes twigs and leaves).

In my last job with Covid, to help protect the cleaning staff, it did end up being the nurses caring for the patients taking out the linens and trash from Covid + rooms. I've worked restaurants. I am more than capable of tying a bag and sticking another in. It isn't beneath me to help get my patient food or help them have a clean room. And our ancillary staff were going into every room in the hospital. They are less trained for donning and doffing PPE. That's a good way to give everyone covid.

[MunoRN, RN]

21 hours ago, Trevor Piper said:

This is why nurses get walked all over by the hospital. People on this post acting like it’s their duty to get floated off of floors out of their specialty. Really, it’s a great way to make a medical error and lose your license. Dealing with a patient population you’re  not familiar and equipment that you are not because your hospital doesn’t  mind gambling with house money. It’s your license, what do they care?  And frankly, I wouldn’t float for $3/hour extra. Wouldn’t touch it for less than time and 1/2. I’d rather make somewhat less at a hospital that never floats me than work at a hospital that does.

 

and like someone has already said, they overstaff good floors and start using them as float pools. The old bait and switch, you’re going to be a psych nurse but really your a float nurse that we tricked into being here. I’m disappointed in what nursing has become, everywhere I look, nurses afraid to advocate for their patients and theirselves. No unions, allow hospitals to use us as doormats: float here, take out trash, change linens, do dietary work, do house keeping, do stocking. Grow a backbone.

I've worked at a couple of union hospitals where the unions pushed for floating.  To meet variable staffing needs, it's either floating or low census, and while I personally love LC and can't really see any point where I wouldn't be happy to take LC, in my experience nurses complain far more about being frequently put on low census than they do about floating in order to avoid being put on low census.

[VAC RN25]

I have never been floated so often as in my current stepdown unit. I am a PACU/ ICU and Home health experienced RN 25 y. I am new to this hospital system and computer system. Short orientation.  My 3 months probation is not finished. I was sent to float with a preceptor mid shift and also once I was on my own. I'm FT staff and I'm floated every other week. Last float was 2 nights in a row! I did speak up to the charge nurse and ask if their wasnt ANYONE ELSE  that could go,... no, because they wouldn't send a new grad. 

I knew I would be expected to float when I took the job, and I'm willing to do my fair share once I'm completely on board, but this seems crazy excessive.

Apparently, the travel nurses don't float per their contracts. The PRN staff will only agree to work particular units. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this. 

I'm just not up to starting over in a new job at this point.