New Grads ....how long until they can float ?

Hi,


just wondering if new grads can float after orientation, or is there usually a timeline ? I know this may be hospital specific, just wondering what others have heard or experienced.


I ask this, because there is a PT position available with the posibility of FT hours.....but in the event the hours are not available I would try to ask to be floated.
I floated a week after I was off orientation...but that was when I started off as a floor nurse. In the ICU, I started floating 3 months after orientation.

Depends on the unit and depends on the nurse.

In my unit we were not allowed to float until the 6 month mark

In my facility new grads are not supposed to float for twelve months. Experienced nurses after three months

In psych, I started floating immediately.

4 months on my floor.

My floor you could float right off orientation, and it was traumatizing. It was also not safe.

As you thought it depends on the hospital. My first job as a new grad was in the float pool. If you ask 100 nurses about floating you will get 99 horror stories about the unsafe, dangerous, traumatizing horrors of floating. I am the 1 who will say I love floating, loved it from the start. (I was scared as a new grad, not scared due to floating.) Give it a try if it is offered, don't let the naysayers scare you away. I work extra help now and am frequently called into work when others are canceled because the bosses know I am flexible and have experience in many areas of nursing.

6 mos post orientation. Orientation is 3 mos.

My manager doesn't allow new grads to float until they've been on their own for 4 months. I don't know what her policy is for non new-grad, new nurses though.

whats floating?

I started floating after a few months as a new grad. To ICU, so I thought it was a bit soon. I don't normally mind it, but I told my boss that we should at least get a shift or two of orientation there first.