Should a telemetry nurse be expected to float to a critical care unit?

I don't think telemetry nurses, or any nurses, should be expected to float to CCU or any other department where they are not orientated or do not feel comfortable. I used to always cringe thinking about being pulled. It was always me or several other nurses. The lazy or ditzy nurses never got pulled. I felt like I was being punished for being a good nurse. I found other units not at all friendly and the shifts seemed much longer than 12 hours. Several times I absolutely refused to float because I felt it was not my turn. I didn't get in any trouble but would not have cared if I did. I'm now in medical imaging. I get pulled from outpatient to inpatient. The techs in both areas are awesome and very appreciative and I don't mind being pulled. Most importantly, I knew from the git-go, when I was hired, that I would be pulled between the two.

At my former hospital, the night supervisor started floating me to CCU/CNU because I had worked tele for 3 years and was then on pulmonary floor with stable/longterm vents. I wasn't crazy about it, but I did it. If there were 3 pts waiting to go to tele, I would get all 3--standard assignment for the CCU nurses was 2 pts. I was the only RN in the entire hospital to be floated this way. The hardest part (as I stated in a prior post) was the paperwork and finding the light switches!

Perhaps I was a little naive--or maybe just dumb. I was not given the option of refusing. When they sent me to ICU a couple of times, I did refuse patients they tried to assign me--fresh open heart, for example. On the tele floor we got them 1 day post op, so I was not comfortable.

Eventually, I did move to CCU/CNU and stayed there 3 years. In the long run, though, I don't think it was the right job for me.