Who Here "Floats" to Other Units

[Ted]

Hello -

I'm almost sure that this topic has been started sometime, somewhere on this bulletin board. But I'm no stranger to repetition and so I guess I'm presenting this topic again.

But this topic was inspired by a very brief discussion, on another thread, on floating.

I work for a very small, community "Critical Care Access" hospital. My main unit is ICU/CCU. However, I also float to Med/Surg, ER, Maternity (mainly to feed the babies and change their diapers), do PACU, and do "Ambulance Runs" for patients needing more extensive cardiac-respiratory monitoring and/or IV med titration (my favorite "float" of all because of the Dunkin Donut run after the transfer). In the past, I have done ALL of the units during one 12-hour shift! Not often, but I've done it.

So. . . Who here also floats? Where do you float to? What's your favorite place to float to? What's your "dreaded unit" to float to?

Here's to all of the floaters! Cheers! :cheers:

:)

[rn undisclosed name]

We have float pool nurses so we rarely have to float. In the last year I have floated once. Not too bad!

I used to float a lot more at other hospitals that did not have a float pool or one that was not well staffed.

The only downside to having the float pool is that I get canceled on a pretty frequent basis.

[BostonTerrierLover, BSN, RN]

I alway's agree to float!

At the facility I worked at as a staff RN I was always the first to float (even though we were supposed to take turns.)

I loved to work my way through the Hospital, and it afforded me the oppuritunity to find out where I loved. I had always wanted to be a ICU/CCU/CVR RN althrough school, and knew I would do a year stent in Med-Surg. I got pulled to ER one night, and my heart raced. I was scared to death. Their personalities were different. I had never even thought of ER, and ALL MY COLLECTED NURSING URBAN MYTHs and HORROR STORIES came from ER.

I was 3 days away from my one year mark, and I was kinda down because I found the units to be boring to me. Well that night I got pulled changed my life!!!! One of them must have bit me on the neck, because that FLOAT changed me to the core of who I am. If not for floating, I would have never worked:

SAME DAY SURGERY

SURGERY CARDIAC

SURGERY GENERAL

PEDIATRICs (my second :redbeathe)

PEDIATRIC ER

IV THERAPY

EMS TRANSPORT

I would never have been inspired to go get another degree, and I would still be working some floor wondering if their was better out there. FLOATING CAN BE COOL!!!

[CharcoalRN]

We have float pool RN's who are trained to float to all the unit of our hospital, but that doesn't change us Staff RN's from floating. I work med/surg/tele and only float to the other med/surg/tele floor. My hospital won't send a RN to a unit if they haven't been oriented there.

[Ted]

Just reading through the posts, here. For some facilities, it seems o.k. to float. For others? Scary!!

It least in the name of Patient Safety (not to mention employee satisfaction), I would hope that ALL healthcare facilities would provide its nurses appropriate, effective orientation, as well as solid and safe-minded policies to which specialties their nurses can and should not float to, should "floating" be part of the job description. Sadly, it seems that this is not the case for a number of hospitals. Scary.

[Ted]

i have worked for union and non-union facilities. i have worked at academic centers and critical access as well as an ltac. . . .

critical access hospitals/small hospitals have the most flexible staff. the whole hospital is like one floor and they are all friends. they are specialists in all areas and can function just about anywhere and do anything. while a tough place to work due to very little resources you are a jack of all trades. the staff are very flexible and are very highly trained because of this....they used to working under amazing conditions. but they can also bicker like children.

floating is a necessary evil....i just wish that administration would understand how to make it amlicable and safer for everyone. but that costs money and we all know the last thing, in this day and age, administration wants to do is spend money on nursing.

i work for a critical care access facility! i appreciate the compliment!! except, i take exception to your comment about us sometimes bickering like children. we do not bicker like children. we bicker like adult children! there's a difference! ha!

cheers! :)

[wanderlust99]

Well, I'm a traveler in the ICU float pool...so I float everyday and I must say it really sucks. I can't wait to find a permanent position and only be floated say once a month, that sounds like heaven to me. The worst place I've ever floated was a tele with a speciality of CF patients. It was so busy and those patients are on SO MANY meds it's unbelievable.....I was scraping by that day and didn't do everything I was suppose to do. Plus no help from other staff.

[HazelLPN, LPN]

I think the misconception is that if a critical care nurse can suction an ETT and titrate a drip, they can work anywhere. Our charge nurses in the PICU would try to give PICU nurses babies, but to a PICU nurse a baby might be an 18 month old, especially whenthey have an 18 year old in the next isolation room.

Best way around this? Paid orientation to the unit. When our NICU was slow, several NICU nurses were in your shoes. They were terrified of working in the PICU and screwing up. Its an intimidating place. So, they asked the PICU nurse manager for an orientation. They were then able to work there more comfortably AND it opened up communication and dialogue on appropriate assignments for a NICU nurse.

Hang in there.

Mrs H.

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

We get floated occasionally, but we do have a float pool so it depends on who gets cancelled.

As a new grad working on ortho, I could get floated to med-surg or telemetry. The first night I was floated to telemetry I was scared ********. Luckily the girls working with me that night were friendly and really helpful, even for questions like "Now I KNOW this is a stupid question, but..." etc. etc.

People hate floating to our unit, I've heard that staff feel that they aren't welcomed. That's not right

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Was on a Med/Tele floor that would float me out to ICU and to a cardiac stepdown unit. I loved them both and would go back to either.

Floated once to a surgical unit. Dear lord I loathe that floor.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I work for a critical care access facility! I appreciate the compliment!! Except, I take exception to your comment about us sometimes bickering like children. We do NOT bicker like children. We bicker like ADULT children! There's a difference! HA!

Cheers! :)

I LOVED the critical access hospital. What an amazing groupof people. They could pull things together, out of their butts...they amazed me. As the supervisor I LOVED it. I was the IV team. Code Nurse one (and two at times) the extra trauma nurse, difficult lab draws, abg's.....you know the drill. I loved it there.

I had 2 floors arguing with each other. One was the second cousin, twice removed, who was related to the Aunt who divorced the uncles son......you get the picture.

They kept paging me with every comment. She said she won't...blah, blah, blah.....and My sisters Aunt's brother said her heard her saying that I'm lazy at work. Finally in frustration because the ED was busy (I was the extra trauma nurse) and we were waiting for a chopper...I told them to put their big girl panties on and stick their heads out the window and shout at each other and get it over with because they were wasting my time.

I don't get verklempt very often but.......They KNEW I was NOT happy and were angels and best buds.....for about a week.