Would you trade a great team for an easier floor?

[RNlmk]

I have been on my floor for a year, I promised myself I would give it that long no matter what. It's a hard floor med surg w/ oncology, head & neck / ENT and palliative beds- a good mix of med and surg pts. The variety has been great for learning but it's also very hard, and stressful to keep up with all these different diagnoses, treatments, so many comorbidities etc. I have friends who work on straight surg floors and it seems a lot easier b/c their pts are so similar hips, knees, backs and bariatrics. I float alot to these floors and I find I like the pt pop a lot better but there just isn't the same team atmosphere that we have. No one wants to help anyone, there's no joking around or chit chat, the whole team doesn't even show up for a rapid! Maybe this atmosphere comes from working on a higher acuity unit- like you better be ready to help out b/c tomorrow it's gonna be YOU running a rapid while you have to admits waiting. So basically I don't really like the patient population that I'm caring for but I love my coworkers. Is it worth it to make a change? What do you think?

[pghnurse527]

Absolutely not. I work on a medical/certified stroke unit and we typically have 5-6 pts with 1-2 CNAs during day shift. It can be very stressful as many patients are high acuity, but my team is awesome and worth the extra hard work and intensity.

[gaonsi]

I think you should stay. Having a team that will help you when things are rough makes all the difference. Plus if you have high acuity patients with many comorbidities, you're being challenged intellectually which will really make you a stronger nurse. Good luck!

[lagalanurse]

Yeah I would probably stay too. Working with a good team is such a big part of job satisfaction IMO. Hopefully things will get "easier" since you have hit the one year mark.

[eatmysoxRN, ASN, RN]

One of the main reasons I enjoy going to work is my amazing coworkers. I'd rather have harder patients (i do) than work on any of the easier floors. Everyone in my hospital knows that we are the hardest floor to work on. Everyone also requests us to be pulled when they need someone. My team is amazing. I'm proud to be a part of it.

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

When i have all easy patients i dont care if the team on is good or not. i can do it all myself. but the reality is that most shifts are not like that on most floors. the people working on a shift make a huge difference. it sucks having anrapid response, in room for 1hr or more, meds behind and an usesleas aide who didnt do vitals or check on pts, your other patients are ringing the call bell, you come out of the rapid response to call icu for report and everyone is sitting at the desk doing nothing! That makes me really angry when i get stuck with a group like that

[elkpark]

I've done both over the years and, IMO, I would much rather work in a difficult situation with great coworkers than vice versa.

[llg, PhD, RN]

The team is #1 in my book. It doesn't matter how easy the work is if the work environment stinks. If you don't have a good team to work with, you'll end up hating going to work and having to deal with those people all day.

If you've got a good team to work with, life is at least OK. I would never sacrifice being a member of a good workgroup for a more attractive patient population -- or for a pay raise either, for that matter.

[HyperSaurus, RN, BSN]

Nope. I work a very busy medical with tele floor, and while we have quite a bit of turnover (new grad RNs who just don't ike the controlled chaos), the team we have is great. I won't stay on this floor forever, but the people I work with have really made this unit a good place to start out and learn.

[jmll1765, ASN, RN]

I wouldn't leave my team! It's so hard to find people who work well together and get along. I like knowing that someone has my back if it gets crazy. The people I work with are one of the reasons I haven't changed jobs yet. In fact, we've discussed how we could all find jobs together if we ever decided to leave our current one:-)

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I work on a PCU and my floor can be VERY busy...but I always work with an awesome team. I would never trade that for an easier floor. I have been floated to an easier floor (floor was desperate and management wanted to still give me my hours) and I much rather prefer my crazy floor with a team I know I can depend on.

[buytheshoes11, MSN, RN]

I would definitely keep the great team I work with and our busy floor over an "easy" floor with terrible teamwork. My coworkers make those bad shifts more bearable.