Staff Nurses' Perspectives of Resources Needed During Floating.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine nurses' perceptions regarding the resources needed during floating.

BACKGROUND: Most studies report on patterns of floating and the characteristics of float pool nurses. No studies exist regarding staff nurses' views of the types of resources needed to support floating.

METHODS: Staff nurses in a pediatric hospital (N = 220) completed an electronic survey of both open- and close-ended questions. Close-ended data were analyzed with frequencies and percentages. Open-ended data were content-analyzed and then frequencies and percentages of categories of responses were performed. χ Analyses were used to examine relationships between the variables.

RESULTS: There were no significant relationships between resources and years at the institution and number of times floated in past year. The top 3 categories of resources needed to float by nurse participants included having an assigned a resource/buddy, mini-orientation, and electronic updates about the units they are floating to.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore common frustrations nurses experience during floating and ways that nurse executives can create a more satisfactory floating environment and increase nursing satisfaction.