I have been an OB/NICU RN for 20 years. I have never worked in any other area. As we all know, OB and NICU are very specialized areas that are completely different from all other areas of the hospital.
I currently work in a small hospital in Indiana. When our census is down (and sometimes even when it's NOT down), they expect the OB RN's to float to all areas of the hospital, including Med/Surg, ICU, ER, etc. It used to be that we only had to function as CNA's, but with the economy down, they are now pretty much expecting us to work as staff for the rest of the hospital. They are now insisting that we take teams of patients, which we are fully responsible for. Many times, they pull from our unit when we are busy, understaffing OB to dangerous levels, to staff the other units. Of course, we are not oriented or trained to the other areas. Most of the other RN's on my unit have no experience outside of OB as well. When people speak up and say, "I am not comfortable with this because I am not trained or oriented," we are often written up for refusing to float and insubordination. Yet when OB is busy and we ask for help from other units, we are told, "No one is trained in OB, so no, no one else can help out. Sorry."
I used to be ok with floating to another unit and working in the role of a CNA....however, after doing further research, I am noticing that if you are working anywhere in the hospital, you hold the accountability as an RN, even if you are only doing CNA tasks.
We are considering writing a letter to the administration of the hospital with our concerns. Does anyone have any information on laws regarding floating (Indiana laws in particular would be helpful) and what are recourses are?
I know how you feel too. I had a traumatic experience when I was pulled to a critical neuro floor. I had 2 pts going down. I wasn't taught how to suction a pt. Most of them are on telemetry. I couldn't tell you if the person is in V-tach! So scary. I was praying just to get through the night!!!
that's definitely an issue. If you can't monitor Tele, among other things, then you shouldn't be responsible for tele patients.... that would make me uncomfortable for my license.
I do believe being in specialized areas that if you're going to float, you need an orientation. Even then, there will be things that come up that are specific to that unit that you will know nothing about and need a charge to defer to for help/questions. Otherwise it'd be a done deal and I wouldn't float. Although if I was in a pinch and the poop was about to hit the fan, I'd page the house supervisor or whomever if I couldn't get the help I'd need on something I knew nothing about...
MassED, BSN, RN
2,636 Posts
that's definitely an issue. If you can't monitor Tele, among other things, then you shouldn't be responsible for tele patients.... that would make me uncomfortable for my license.
I do believe being in specialized areas that if you're going to float, you need an orientation. Even then, there will be things that come up that are specific to that unit that you will know nothing about and need a charge to defer to for help/questions. Otherwise it'd be a done deal and I wouldn't float. Although if I was in a pinch and the poop was about to hit the fan, I'd page the house supervisor or whomever if I couldn't get the help I'd need on something I knew nothing about...