ICU nurses pulled to general floors

[cassioo]

May sound a bit stupid, but I always figured a ICU nurse would be able to work Med-Surg. 'a bit' easier than a Med-Surg nurse floating to ICU.

'Cat'

This is where my opinion that new grads shouldn't hire into speciality positions comes in. Or at least new grads should have to do their practium hours (if those are required in your state) on a med/surg unit taking a full load to learn assessments, delegation, priority, time management etc. Then go to those speciality units to learn special things like critical pt management, speciality drugs and procedures and those blasted monitors. Then when you get pulled back to a general unit you have a good solid base to fall back to.

My problem with pulling to cover units (back in my pulling days) we had a rotation schedule but they (house supervisors) would say we want this one or that one to go because they can handle it and that one can't even if it is their turn...then it would turn into a thing of always wanting the same ones to go and nobody else would ever learn....it's also part of the mentality of give the pulled person the crappy assignment, ignore them, don't tell them when scheduled breaks/lunch are and make them hate to go to your unit.

As someone has said before when you have staff pulled to your unit you should welcome them for their help, offer to help them where you can, give them someone to go on breaks with, thank them for their help and make them not dread coming back...sounds like a good inservice to me

[SoldierNurse]

"As someone has said before when you have staff pulled to your unit you should welcome them for their help, offer to help them where you can, give them someone to go on breaks with, thank them for their help and make them not dread coming back...sounds like a good inservice to me." - cassioo

Sounds like team work to me.

[cassioo]

Sounds like team work to me.

yep that's what it is:
don't eat your young
be nice to pulled people
don't ***** and moan all day or join in with those who do
don't be mean to the students but model for them so they grow up to be nurses you want to work with not the ones you hate to work with
if you get pulled ask if you don't know don't just not do things or ***** about it all day

I know little Mary Sunshine but it is true it get what you give and what goes around comes around.

Can't we all just get along???? I really should go to bed now

[Ricu]

I'm not surprised there are a lot of replies to this thread. This is one of those age old gripes. While I feel for the ICU nurse who is pulled to the floor, as a nursing director I have to look out for the good of the hospital and not just the ICU/PCU. Unless you work in a closed unit you should expect to be pulled to other units when census rises unexpectly or too many people call out, etc. Obviously, if you are being pulled to another floor often like weekly then admin needs to address this problem. I had a part time nurse who recently refused to float to the medical floors. I fired her the next morning. At the hospital I work for we determine where nurses are qualified to work and they can be floated where needed if they are qualified. I did my share of floating to other units over the years and I griped about it also but I went and did my best. I also agree that the medical charge nurse upon receiving a floater from ICU should realize they will probably not be operating at full eficiency. thanks for listening.

Just what I like- The good ole' " I did it so, you can do it too" thinking.


I've been around the block a few times and can say with confidence that it's a rare nurse who would refuse to take an assignment. While we don't know the details of this nurse's tenure, termination for refusal to float seems extreme. Maybe "admin" needs to look around.

Thanks for listening

R

[TomB]

Frankly, monitors lie.

Yes they do! All the time. "Treat the patient, not the monitor."

But, part of the critical care skill set is learning to use monitors effectively as tools.

For example, vent alarms go off all the time. Do I look up every time a vent alarm goes off? Of course not. But, unconsiously, when the alarm keeps going off for about 10 seconds, you immediately go into the room without thinking about it.

There are many many things that can cause an alarm to go off when there's nothing wrong. But there are very few circumstances when an alarm doesn't go off when it should.

[Cammer]

Yes they do! All the time. "Treat the patient, not the monitor."

But, part of the critical care skill set is learning to use monitors effectively as tools.

For example, vent alarms go off all the time. Do I look up every time a vent alarm goes off? Of course not. But, unconsiously, when the alarm keeps going off for about 10 seconds, you immediately go into the room without thinking about it.

There are many many things that can cause an alarm to go off when there's nothing wrong. But there are very few circumstances when an alarm doesn't go off when it should.

I agree with much of what you say, but a monitor cannot lie any more than this computer I'm using can think. The information on a monitor is wholly dependent upon the input it receives from the patient. Monitors have not been given artificial intelligence yet, therefore they cannot lie, but they can give you an inaccurate graphical/numerical representation of the patient's condition.

The saying "Treat the patient, not the monitor" is advising a practitioner to not completely rely on the results of an electronic device which only shows an interpretation of exactly what information is put in it and is easily capable of being misread. If there is bad information going in, then it will give an unusable output. Therefore, it is most prudent to assess the patient prior to implementing any interventions based on a single source of possibly unreliable data. Never generalize from a single datum in any field of study, not just medicine or nursing.

[SoldierNurse]

I agree with much of what you say, but a monitor cannot lie any more than this computer I'm using can think. The information on a monitor is wholly dependent upon the input it receives from the patient. Monitors have not been given artificial intelligence yet, therefore they cannot lie, but they can give you an inaccurate graphical/numerical representation of the patient's condition.

The saying "Treat the patient, not the monitor" is advising a practitioner to not completely rely on the results of an electronic device which only shows an interpretation of exactly what information is put in it and is easily capable of being misread. If there is bad information going in, then it will give an unusable output. Therefore, it is most prudent to assess the patient prior to implementing any interventions based on a single source of possibly unreliable data. Never generalize from a single datum in any field of study, not just medicine or nursing.

:thumbsup:

[Enerjan]

Hey! I'm an L&D nurse that got floated to PCU. I had 5 pts, had to look up EVERY med I gave, and gave 3 units of blood to an 85 yo woman. After the second unit was in, I noticed that she was coughing a little. Listened to her lungs, sounded wet. Told the charge nurse, who asked me how fast I was running the blood? 175cc/hr, at which she gasped and shouted "You can't run the blood that fast!!" But we do it all the time in L&D. Haven't ever had an 85 yo Mother in L&D. I was sick, literally. Cried all the way home that morning, and it took several months for me to regain my confidence. I work @ a hospital now that doesn't float. Thank God!! Because a nurse is NOT a nurse, is NOT a nurse. If that were true, PCU nurses would float to L&D.Kisses!!

[nursemaharaj]

I agree its horrible to be pulled to ICU if u are not trained because the training an ICU staff has is nothing compared to general nursing thats just my opinion.I had the opportunity of being trained in ICU for 2 months and that was an internal hospital programme not and official course.The stuff you take fro granted on regular medical and surgical floors is of the utmost importance in ICU.It was scary for the first week but i grooved in and it turned out ok.I never want to actually work there its a wee bit depressing and by the way where i worked was a 4 bed unit with no stepdown unit.

[deedah72]

at the hospital that I work at we have 4 med/surg floors that are considered one closed unit which means you can be pulled to any one of those floors to work depending on staffing need. The labor/delivery floor is separately closed and the cvcu and icu is separately closed units which means that if you work on any one of those units you can't be pulled to another unit to meet staffing needs, they can ask you if you would work outside "your unit" but its your choice. Some nurses/aides dont mind working a med/surg shift for a change giving them a break from icu but some do mind, its their choice not the hospital supervisors. It sometimes is difficult for an icu nurse to work on a med/surg floor (rightly so) because they go from having 2 patients to about 7-8 patients and it screws with their time management skills. Especially if you've worked icu for many years, it takes some adjustment. Rachael LPN