Should I go into float pool as a new grad?

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Should I go into float pool as a new grad?

Hello Nurse Beth,

I am a 23-year-old female, and about to graduate from my ADN nursing program in December. I am currently working as a float pool CNA at my local hospital in Southern California. I love my manager and float pool has honestly been a really great experience and it has really made me consider doing float pool nursing.

My manager has also mentioned to me that he would love to have me on as a new grad nurse if I am interested. He is super positive and supportive and I think that is super important when starting a new job. My hospital has a new grad nurse program where you get 24 shifts of orientation, and after orientation, you train on one unit ( med-surg or tele) for a month ( to get down a routine) before you start floating throughout the hospital. I asked around and most new grads started at about 45$/hour and an additional 4.50 for working the night shift. I am already familiar with the different units and have spoken to many float nurses in my hospital and they seem to really love it.

My ideal plan would be to gain experience and build on my skills for 1-3 years while working on my BSN. After that maybe consider travel, PRN, or exploring other options. What do you guys think? Does that sound like a decent plan? I really want a good foundation and I want to be a reliable nurse with good skills as well as be comfortable financially.

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11 Answers

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

Dear Wants to Float,

Congratulations on being in your last semester! You have been thinking about your career path; kudos to you!

Some will disagree with me, but I strongly recommend against being a float nurse as a new grad. You would be doing yourself a disservice, and it would not be easy. 

  •  As a float nurse, you must be more independent in your practice than a new grad. You will be dependent, not independent, for some time.
  • As a float nurse, you have no home unit and no team that has your back. At some point that can be OK, but not your first year.
  • Nursing is teamwork. Building and cultivating working relationships with coworkers, CNAs, and nurses is essential. This takes time and presence.
  • Float nurses can get poor assignments. This is unfortunate but it happens. 
  • You will spend energy on new patients and coworkers daily rather than solely on learning your new role.
  • You'll miss out on continuity of care, seeing your patients' conditions change day to day, and learning about nursing interventions and patient outcomes.
  • You need an accessible unit manager to supervise and guide you instead of a float nurse manager who may not see you frequently and regularly on the floor.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is- pick a floor and stay there one year. You have a much better chance of being supported, which will help you grow. From there, you'll be ready to decide what works best for you.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

Specializes in Critical Care.

I agree with Nurse Beth. 

I realize I already answered elsewhere but with regard to the points above, I do agree with them and used to strongly recommend against the idea. But that was before the regular med surg floors became what they have in the last ~ 10 yrs: a mess with rapid turnover (including leadership), terrible staffing where everyone just tries to survive for 12 hours, fake "residency" programs that are worse, not better, than orientations of old that actually involved working alongside seasoned nurses who were known for providing excellent care and who were expert level bedside nurses.

I hired into a specialty floor that was very stable staff- and leadership-wise, was the best staffed of any of the other m/s floors in that hospital. That floor really had its stuff together. For my 3 month orientation I had ONE preceptor who was amazing and worked on that floor since before I was born. Then I went to my assigned shift and had another ONE preceptor who was also very, very knowledgeable and was an excellent nurse and pleasant to work with.

So for years I would advise people not to float, instead go to a lovely floor like the one I went to. Except I don't know where those are now. I suspect they are few and far between. In the meantime, there are upsides to floating, not the least of which is staying out of the damn drama that exists in way too many areas.

I think if there really is support from the float pool manager and the prospective RN already has some good experiences floating as a tech, this could be a situation where someone can succeed at this. Having support and already being somewhat known/accepted on the floors is not to be underestimated; it is a HUGE benefit.

I think both the yea/nay sides are worth consideration here.

 

 

Specializes in cardiac/education.

Don't do it. It essentially happened to me but I had no alternative at the time. I feel like it really ruined my nursing career in many ways. I have work anxiety to this day that I feel stems in part from such a complicated start in nursing. You need to make friends and know others have your back! Moving around all the time you never get that and you DO get the worst, heaviest assignments, which can be horrific as a new grad. 

 

Specializes in Mental Health.

I'm surprised that's even an option - pool usually requires several years of experience.

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
Rionoir said:

I'm surprised that's even an option - pool usually requires several years of experience.

Exactly. It makes me question this manager.

Nurse Beth said:
Rionoir said:

I'm surprised that's even an option - pool usually requires several years of experience.

Exactly. It makes me question this manager.

I couldn't agree more.  The OP stated that he or she would be getting 24 shifts orientation - 8 weeks.  In my opinion, 8 weeks is insufficient for a new grad on one unit; much less for someone that us going to be working multiple units.

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
JKL33 said:

I realize I already answered elsewhere but with regard to the points above, I do agree with them and used to strongly recommend against the idea. But that was before the regular med surg floors became what they have in the last ~ 10 yrs: a mess with rapid turnover (including leadership), terrible staffing where everyone just tries to survive for 12 hours, fake "residency" programs that are worse, not better, than orientations of old that actually involved working alongside seasoned nurses who were known for providing excellent care and who were expert level bedside nurses.

I hired into a specialty floor that was very stable staff- and leadership-wise, was the best staffed of any of the other m/s floors in that hospital. That floor really had its stuff together. For my 3 month orientation I had ONE preceptor who was amazing and worked on that floor since before I was born. Then I went to my assigned shift and had another ONE preceptor who was also very, very knowledgeable and was an excellent nurse and pleasant to work with.

So for years I would advise people not to float, instead go to a lovely floor like the one I went to. Except I don't know where those are now. I suspect they are few and far between. In the meantime, there are upsides to floating, not the least of which is staying out of the damn drama that exists in way too many areas.

I think if there really is support from the float pool manager and the prospective RN already has some good experiences floating as a tech, this could be a situation where someone can succeed at this. Having support and already being somewhat known/accepted on the floors is not to be underestimated; it is a HUGE benefit.

I think both the yea/nay sides are worth consideration here.

 

 

Functioning as an RN is VERY difference than functioning as a CNA.  Previous floating never hurts but it doesn't reflect the added judgement and responsibilities of an RN. 

Med -surg is a specialty and should be treated as such.  There are no downsides to additional experience before re-entering the float pool where people will still be glad to see you back.

 

subee said:

Functioning as an RN is VERY difference than functioning as a CNA.  Previous floating never hurts but it doesn't reflect the added judgement and responsibilities of an RN.

Yes. I believe what I said was that having some support and already being somewhat known/accepted on the floors is not nothing. Peer acceptance and manager support are nothing to sneeze at; in fact med surg (which I agree has historically been a wonderful place to start, as I wrote in my post) might 100% suck without those two things.

 

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
JKL33 said:

Yes. I believe what I said was that having some support and already being somewhat known/accepted on the floors is not nothing. Peer acceptance and manager support are nothing to sneeze at; in fact med surg (which I agree has historically been a wonderful place to start, as I wrote in my post) might 100% suck without those two things.

 

I did mention that her those people she worked with as a float will still be happy to see her on the unit.  My intention to say was:  whether you're off for a week or a year, if you're a good employee they will ALWAYS be happy to see you.  Meanwhile that year of changing your role from CNA to RN would be easier on a single unit, IMV only.

Specializes in NICU.

That would be like throwing you in to the wolves.Todays climate is nurses being arrested,sued ,jail time for mistakes ,I would avoid that option.You can always do it when you HAVE experience.The area that opens new opportunities for you  usually involves an ICU,solid experience,expertise..look at those options and think future.

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