Travel Nurse Tips: How to Succeed When Floating to New Units

Welcome back! Let’s get back to my first travel contract in Portland, Oregon! If you haven’t read my previous posts about my travel nurse experience, you can check them out here!

Dodger's Stadium, Los Angeles, California

As a travel nurse, I went on this contract expecting to float to other units if there was a need. In my last staff nurse position I asked about other travel nurses’ experiences floating and I always got mixed responses. Some travel nurses hated floating to new units because they felt that they were poorly prepared to go to those units. Other travel nurses had no problem and enjoyed the experience of learning new things from the units they would float to. Regardless of other nurses’ experiences, I kept an open mind throughout my contract.

When I arrived for my contract, I had an orientation and tour with the assistant manager. There I learned that travel nurses would often float, but the benefit of being within the critical care cluster (what they called the 4 ICUs) was that we only floated within the critical care cluster. This meant we wouldn’t have to float to the ED, step-down units, or any other units that we weren’t trained for. Additionally, if we had to float to a more specialized ICU, such as the CVICU, we were usually assigned patients that fit our training and specialty.

The ICU that I originally trained at was mostly a medical ICU, but we were also considered a catch-all unit where we would treat patients with various types of issues ranging from trauma, respiratory failure, strokes, myocardial infarcts, sepsis, and DKA just to name a few. This helped prepare me to be flexible as an ICU nurse and adapt to nearly anything that I might encounter. Because of my background, I asked to be placed in the medical ICU (MICU). Within two weeks of starting, instead of working at the MICU, I was sent to the trauma/surgical ICU (TSICU) for my first float assignment.

An hour before my shift started, I received a text message from the charge nurse at the MICU informing me that I would be floating to the TSICU. Getting this information an hour prior helped prepare me so that I wouldn’t waste time making my way to the MICU. I was excited but also scared. I was excited to learn what I could, but I was afraid of the uncertainty of how friendly or helpful the staff at this unit would be. In retrospect, here are a few tips that made my experience a lot easier!

Be proactive

When I arrived at the TSICU, I made sure to introduce myself to the charge nurse and other staff nurses. I also got there 30 minutes early so that I could get oriented and find my way around the unit. A few things that I took note of were the locations of the bathrooms, break room, equipment room, medication room, nurses station, and huddle room.

Be observant

Have you heard of the saying, “Look with your eyes, not your mouth”? Well, you can apply the same concept to floating. I paid close attention during huddles, reports, and rounds to see how each event was handled. If there was definitely something I was unsure of, I would go back to tip #1 and ask questions!

Be a team player

Regardless of being a staff nurse or a travel nurse, I knew I was part of a team. Being part of a team meant always lending a hand when I could and sharing my knowledge and expertise if needed.

Build relationships

Piggybacking off of being a team player, it was important to build a rapport with the team. Getting to know the local staff, not just nurses, but including doctors, respiratory therapists, and patient mobility techs made my experience even better and helped me identify people that were approachable and reliable.

Communicate clearly

I made it a point to communicate clearly with my coworkers, including my expectations and any concerns that I may have had. This helped prevent misunderstandings and ensured that everyone was on the same page.

Keep a positive attitude

I still remember my first job interview and I was asked to rank 3 qualities in order of importance and why. These 3 qualities were attitude, work ethic, and skills. In order of importance, I answered: 1) Attitude, 2) Work Ethic, and 3) Skills. I tried my best, every shift, to keep a positive attitude and to remember that floating to different units could be a valuable experience, even if it was challenging at times.

Floating to new units was challenging at times, but gave me so many valuable experiences that made me a better travel nurse. By keeping an open mind, being proactive, observant, a team player, building relationships, communicating clearly, and maintaining a positive attitude, I think that travel nurses can make the most out of their experiences when floating. As a travel nurse, embracing floating to different units can lead to personal and professional growth, as well as a sense of accomplishment.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, let me know! Thanks for reading and until next time! Salamat and si yu’us ma’ase!