LAUSR

One method hospitals use to ensure there are adequate staff in each clinical area is to float nurses from their home units to areas in need of staff. Floating, as this practice is commonly called, can be frustrating for nurses who are more comfortable working in their own units, with familiar staff and patient populations. Even for nurses who have floatedmultiple times, each float assignment can be stressful. For the new graduate nurse, floating to another unit for the first time almost certainly comes with elevated levels of fear and anxiety. These feelings could derive from fear of the unknown or possibly from stories they have heard from fellow nurses about their floating experiences. Anxieties related to floating can contribute to a decrease in nurse satisfaction and an increase in nurse turnover rate (Good & Bishop, 2011).