Unit Closed - Should I move on?

Ioreth, ADN, RN · Dec 13, 2020

If you love your unit, I would wait it out. Enjoying the work, coworkers, and what kind of nursing you do goes a very long way. Med-Surg is always hiring and there will be jobs, so don't feel stressed to jump at one right away. The openings will cycle around again.

I've done a little bit of job search due to long-standing issues on my unit, which are now being resolved with new management. I found that everywhere is swamped right now with Covid. The grass is NOT necessarily greener!

I'm having a similar experience with my unit being closed right now.

My unit is normally a highly specialized post-surgical unit, all elective surgeries. We've been "closed" twice during the past year. The first time, the floor was empty for a little while, then they brought in nurses from other units to staff the floor to care for patients typically from those other units. My unit's staff were essentially floating on our own unit. The usual floors for these visiting units were periodically opened and closed as the entire hospital was pretty empty. It was weird and probably inefficient, but at least we had nurses around for the patients we were not used to.
This time, the hospital desperately needs the beds and every floor is full, so we are taking all the general medicals (except strokes and insulin drips), a handful of general surgicals, and we are the designated Covid overflow. And these patients are VERY sick, not the usual med/surg. The past 2 months have been hell. Our supplies and linens par isn't right for our new patient population. We are understaffed for this acuity level (with our usual patients, we generally don't fill all the rooms on the unit). We've had staff out with Covid too, so we are running at an even higher staff deficit. On similar units, we should have 2-3 CNAs for this number of patients, but lately we've been lucky to have 1, due to so many being pulled off the floor to sit confused or at-risk patients. I run all day long and I am behind in everything all day long. Last night I had 2 very frequently incontinent patients at opposite ends of the hall (trying to cohort the Covids, somewhat) that were in perfect synchrony, no CNA, 3 other very sick patients. Floating to other units right now is rare, but when it does happen it is a relief. I'm so glad we have new management that supports us, even if it is awful.

Davey Do · Dec 13, 2020

20 minutes ago, Nurse1220 said:

Any advice? Should I wait and float to the med surg unit until my unit opens up or should I just apply to this med surg job? Thanks!

My advice: Allow The Fates to guide you, Nurse1220.

If it's meant to be-whether it be staying in psych or transferring to med surge- The Fates will show you the way.

I found that by allowing The Fates to guide me, I didn't need to swim against the tide and everything was as it should have been.

And, welcome to allnurses, Nurse1220!

Nurse1220 · Dec 13, 2020

4 minutes ago, Ioreth said:

If you love your unit, I would wait it out. I've done a little bit of job search due to long-standing issues on my unit, which are now being resolved with new management. I found that everywhere is swamped. The grass is NOT greener!

I'm having a similar experience with my unit being closed right now.

My unit is normally a highly specialized post-surgical unit, all elective surgeries. We've been closed twice during the past year. The first time, they actually closed the floor and we all floated to other units for about 6 weeks. This time, the hospital desperately needs the beds, so we are taking all the general medicals (except strokes and insulin drips), a handful of general surgicals, and we are the designated Covid overflow. And these patients are VERY sick, not the usual med/surg. The past 2 months have been hell. Our supplies and linens par isn't right for our new patient population. We are understaffed for this acuity level (with our usual patients, we generally don't fill all the rooms on the unit). We've had staff out with Covid too, so we are running at an even higher staff deficit. On similar units, we should have 2-3 CNAs for this number of patients, but lately we've been lucky to have 1, due to so many being pulled off the floor to sit confused or at-risk patients. I run all day long and I am behind in everything all day long. Last night I had 2 very frequently incontinent patients at opposite ends of the hall (trying to cohort the Covids, somewhat) that were in perfect synchrony, no CNA, 3 other very sick patients. Floating to other units right now is rare, but when it does happen it is a relief. I'm so glad we have new management that supports us, even if it is awful.

Hey!. I am in the same boat as you - this is the second time our unit is closing this year because of the second wave of covid. My hospital is reconstructing my unit and making it into a med surg or covid unit, with negative pressure rooms and call bells (which we don't have in our psych unit). I'm sorry you are going through all of this, it is very stressful.

I'm glad your new management is supportive - which makes a big difference and a sense of relief. Hang in there, we got this.

3 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

My advice: Allow The Fates to guide you, Nurse1220.

If it's meant to be-whether it be staying in psych or transferring to med surge- The Fates will show you the way.

I found that by allowing The Fates to guide me, I didn't need to swim against the tide and everything was as it should have been.

And, welcome to allnurses, Nurse1220!

Thanks so much for your advice, and thank you for the welcome! ?

Ioreth, ADN, RN · Dec 13, 2020

5 minutes ago, Nurse1220 said:

Hey!. I am in the same boat as you - this is the second time our unit is closing this year because of the second wave of covid. My hospital is reconstructing my unit and making it into a med surg or covid unit, with negative pressure rooms and call bells (which we don't have in our psych unit). I'm sorry you are going through all of this, it is very stressful.

I'm glad your new management is supportive - which makes a big difference and a sense of relief. Hang in there, we got this.

Thanks so much for your advice, and thank you for the welcome! ?

That does change things somewhat if they are making physical changes to your unit. I would be concerned too. Are they saying that they will eliminate the psych unit? In either case, I would still wait and keep the job you love as long as there is a possibility of reopening at all. If they do eliminate the unit, then the med-surg jobs will still be there. Another thought, if you are enjoying floating, then maybe float pool?

Nurse1220 · Dec 13, 2020

6 minutes ago, Ioreth said:

That does change things somewhat if they are making physical changes to your unit. I would be concerned too. Are they saying that they will eliminate the psych unit? In either case, I would still wait and keep the job you love as long as there is a possibility of reopening at all. If they do eliminate the unit, then the med-surg jobs will still be there. Another thought, if you are enjoying floating, then maybe float pool?

Yeah, I thought so too. A lot of my coworkers said that they wouldn't spend all this money to change the unit, and then undo it again for a psych unit. The state does want 50% of the hospital beds to be open so maybe that's why but it is still not reassuring to me ? Thanks for your advice.. I think I will wait it out and see what happens because I really love my unit, coworkers and my manager. I hate floating, haha, but I tell myself this is temporary (fingers crossed!) ?

Sour Lemon · Dec 13, 2020

44 minutes ago, Nurse1220 said:

Hi, I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I am new to this site and would like some nursing advice. I work on a psychiatric unit, which closed down "temporarily" as per leadership a few weeks ago. I have been floating to different units, mostly med surg. I'm not really a big fan of med surg, but I am getting used to it and the staff are so welcoming. There is an opening for the med surg unit I am working on while my unit is closed, but I am having second thoughts. I really love my unit (psych unit) and hoping that my unit will open again, but I also have to think about job stability (med surg unit). Any advice? Should I wait and float to the med surg unit until my unit opens up or should I just apply to this med surg job? Thanks!

I would just keep floating. In my hospital, psych is well staffed and med/surg is always short. I float constantly.

If I were to transfer to med/surg, I'd have to go to all their meetings and blah blah blah. I prefer to sit on the fence.

Nurse1220 · Dec 13, 2020

10 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

I would just keep floating. In my hospital, psych is well staffed and med/surg is always short. I float constantly.

If I were to transfer to med/surg, I'd have to go to all their meetings and blah blah blah. I prefer to sit on the fence.

Thank you for your advice. That is true, I don't favor those meetings at all hehe ?

JBMmom, MSN, NP · Dec 13, 2020

Sounds like you might have the best of both worlds in your current situation. Since you're enjoying med-surg and you can float as needed during this period you're doing okay now. Sounds like if your unit does open back up you can go back to the psych that you enjoy but you could always pick up a per diem in med-surg. Or, you could jump to med-surg and look for a per diem in psych when the opportunity becomes available. It's great that you're able to find good in both of those disciplines - not many people pair up med-surg and psych. Good luck to you!

Nurse1220 · Dec 14, 2020

2 hours ago, JBMmom said:

Sounds like you might have the best of both worlds in your current situation. Since you're enjoying med-surg and you can float as needed during this period you're doing okay now. Sounds like if your unit does open back up you can go back to the psych that you enjoy but you could always pick up a per diem in med-surg. Or, you could jump to med-surg and look for a per diem in psych when the opportunity becomes available. It's great that you're able to find good in both of those disciplines - not many people pair up med-surg and psych. Good luck to you!

Thanks! I think I may just have to wait it out. I do hope to go back to my psych unit in the future, hopefully in a couple of months, but I'm grateful I still have a job now. Thanks for your encouragement and advice!

EDNURSE20, BSN · Dec 14, 2020

I worked with a nurse a while back, whose unit always closed for a couple of weeks over the holiday season, because it was always quiet during that time. One year staff went back and the unit was still closed so they all got floated. 6 months later they finally got told the unit was never opening again. After 20 years of working in women’s health suddenly she couldn’t, ended up in a orthopedic floor because she needed the work and hated it.

so if it was me, I would take this time to find a job you want instead of holding out for you unit to open. You may just end with nothing and desperate for any job going.

TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN · Dec 14, 2020

I'm going to go against the grain here. I could just be paranoid, untrusting, and cynical but I would not trust any hospital to keep your position long term while they redesign the unit and potentially not reopen it as a psych unit or open it at all during the pandemic. I would either try to get a permanent position on the med/surg floor and ride out the pandemic or look for a psych position at a different facility. It's been really weird in my region for psych units, some are practically closed down others are overflowing with patients and in desperate need for staff.

Unit Closed - Should I move on?

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