Student Nurse Externship in the Float Unit?

[Animaniacs, BSN, RN]

I figure I should post my question here. I'm a student, and I just finished my first year of my associates in nursing program. I have one more year to go. And I am trying to get a student nurse externship at my local hospital. So far I've applied for Med-Surg unit. I also plan submit another externship application for the Float Unit just as a fallback plan if I don't get hired with my first choice.

Now my question is in regards to the Float Unit. My understanding is that as an extern I will probably get floated to units where they are short in staff.

Can anyone explain to me in in general Float and what I will be doing as a student nurse extern in the Float Unit.

My second question is this: The student nurse extern job listing for the the Float Unit says NURSE FLOAT(PR ONLY). What does PR mean?

Lastly, is it a good choice to do externship in the Float unit or is it better to stick with just one unit, like med-surg for example. I have already have an idea which area I want to work in, probably mental health, or dialysis. but i'll probably want to start med-surg. But if I don't get hired as an extern in med-surg, I don't mind doing externship on the float unit or any unit. I just want to lots of exposure to the hospital now as much as I can and improve my hands on skills.

[AtlantaRN, RN]

nowat my facility PRN means"asneeded " so u don't get benefits

but it paysmore

[Animaniacs, BSN, RN]

no, not PRN. It just has NURSE FLOAT(PR ONLY). PR. I'm wondering what PR means.

[krob0729]

no, not PRN. It just has NURSE FLOAT(PR ONLY). PR. I'm wondering what PR means.

it may be a typo on their part. looks like it. never heard of just PR myself...just PRN

[scorpiolisa]

I did an externship in the float pool between my junior and senior year in nursing school. It was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to everyone! I was unsure of what I wanted to do after I graduated so this was a great way to gain exposure to all departments. I worked with one float pool nurse/preceptor and assisted her with her daily assignments. Slowly I began to pick up a couple of pts on my own. I got a chance to work in all kinds of settings (med-surg, ICU, CCU, ER, Peds). It looks great on my resume to have such an experience. I learned to adapt to different settings and different type of patients. It was great and I would definitely recommend it to you!