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Float nurses often are used to offset the effects of staffing shortages, changes in hospital census, and struggling budgets (Joint Commission, 2004; Linzer, Marie, & Williamson, 2011; Roach, Tremblay, & Carter, 2011). Whether using permanent staffor established pools, floating can reduce overtime costs and use of expensive agency staff(Good & Bishop, 2011). Unfortunately, floating is a sensitive issue to nurses, many of whom describe it as a frustrating and anxietyprovoking experience. My personal experiences floating to other units prompted me to take a deeper look at this issue to determine how to improve this experience for other nurses.
Nurses can do many things to make floating a better experience, such as maintaining a positive attitude, staying abreast of clinical skills, and working within their scope of practice (Cita, 2010). Unfortunately, the expectation often may be that the float nurse takes sole responsibility for his or her success in each new work environment, including addressing areas of concern, asking for assistance, and verbalizing feelings of discomfort (Hemann & Davidson, 2012). Because floating affects everyone - individual nurse, co-workers, patients - ensuring a successful experience becomes a shared responsibility. Providing the float nurse with necessary resources and assistance, as well as maintaining lines of communication and encouraging feedback, can make floating a more positive experience.
Background
Some hospitals use float pools or resource teams consisting of staffspecifically hired into these positions. Hiring specific staffprovides the opportunity to choose highly motivated and flexible individuals, often with prior acute care experience. Because nurses who choose to work float positions often have a specific personality type (flexible, independent, and assertive), this seems to be a logical fit (Linzer et al., 2011). Other organizations may agree to hire new graduate nurses into float pools, but provide them with a specific orientation to prepare them for the known challenges of floating (Crimlisk, McNulty, & Francione, 2002). However, some hospitals do not have established float pools, and staffnurses may be required to float to other departments within the hospital. This can prove to be a challenging and difficult experience, especially for nurses with less experience and those who receive very little orientation or support on the units to which they float.
Even as a new graduate nurse, I found myself floating immediately after...