Our census has been low at work recently, and often one or several 
nurses have been getting pulled to other floors. I usually volunteer for this task, as usually the area you get pulled to will give you good patients and the nurses are often so thankful to have the extra help, that they are extra helpful to you as well. It also helps that the nurses I work with don’t have any interest in me personally at all, and have informed me on more than one occasion they do not want to be my friend. It is very refreshing to go to another floor and have people glad to see me and wanting to talk to me and get to know me on a personal level.
We actually get paid more when we were pulled to another department. The only downfall to me is sometimes you’ll be really crapped on when you are pulled. Occasionally I have been pulled and had all isolation patients. I hate isolation patients. I think the whole dressing out with 
gowns and the gloves is relatively pointless, what about our shoes, our pants, our butt that rubs up against something? I’d like to know what the research says about the gowns and gloves. Does it really make a difference in infection prevention any more than good hand washing alone?
So being pulled is actually quite a pleasure to me. Its always interesting, especially the longer I work at there to see who actually notices when I am in a different department. I love it when the doctors who know my name are glad to see me and greet me warmly. I enjoy working with nurses who are glad I am there and thankful for the work and passion I put into my nursing care.
Today was a great day. I am thankful for everyday I have the ability to get up and go to work. I am thankful to have a job. But today I was thankful to be appreciated as a nurse by other nurses. To have that every now and then is very very nice.
I always HATED to be floated. Yes, the nurses on the unit you’re being floated to may be happy to see you coming, but the reality is a) they’re so bogged down with their own patient assignment, it’s difficult for them to give you the guidance and orientation you really need, and b) there’s no way you can pick up on the routines, patients, doctor preferences, etc., in just a brief orientation if you’ve never worked on that unit before. I always tried to be as helpful as possible and not ask too many questions unless I just to, but it was always a nerve-wracking experience. I’ll never forget one Labor Day – I was driving in my for 3-11p CVICU shift. It occurred to me that our census would be down and someone would have to float, and that it would probably be me since I hadn’t floated in a while (our unit kept a float book and float assignments were based on who hadn’t floated in the longest time). Sure enough, when I got to work, I found out we had to float someone and it was me. But wait!!! It gets better!!! The unit that I was floating to was a recently re-opened medical ICU with minimal permanent staff and several agency nurses. They had no one who could be in charge, so not only did I have to float to a unit where I’d never worked, taking care of patients whose physicians I didn’t know, and with AGENCY nurses (plus one new graduate nurse), I also had to be in charge for the shift! I got on the phone to the nursing supervisor and begged her to find someone else, because of the safety implications involved, but it didn’t happen. I left my head nurse a VM, telling her how inappropriate and unsafe I thought the assignment was. I promised her that as soon as I could find another position, I would leave. Sure enough, I found another non-clinical position within the organization within a week, applied for it, and got it.
Just suggested to my boss the other day that if we received a decent float premium two things would happen –
1. There would always be nurses happy to float.
2. Management would work much harder to keep floating to a minimum.
PS – I don’t necessarily mind floating, but they really need to leave me in one place for my entire 12 hour shift. Often pulled after four hours = unsafe.
Twitter: thenerdynurse
says:
Ree,
I think you are right.
We had a float premium for a while and the pulls occurred far less often and the nurses didn’t mind going.
I agree that a 4 hour pull is unsafe. Right when you get your patients settled you have to start right over.