Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Joyce P. Miller DNP, RN

Abstract

The act of floating or flexible staffing is a cost effective way to maintain nursing staffing levels through times of shortages and surplus. While the financial and patient care benefits are abundant, the culture of floating tends to be negative. Nurses cite difficulty adapting to a changed environment, caring for different patient populations, and working with different staff members as the most difficult and anxiety provoking aspects of floating. Although nurses at a large Midwest medical center frequently float across a number of nursing units, they receive no formal education on the practice of floating. Introduction of an online floating education module during orientation to the department of nursing will provide information and resources to use when floating at this medical center. By improving the floating experience for the nurses, patients will be rewarded with lower nurse patient ratios, nurses will have increased knowledge of diverse patient care as well as strategies to overcome perils of floating, and the medical center will maintain a lower cost solution to staffing fluctuations.

Identifier

SC 11.MAN.2013.Moscatelli.A

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