My First Float

Today I floated to another unit for the first time. I had the interesting opportunity to go to the Neuro ICU for the last 8 hours of my shift. Its a nice unit, full of nice people, nice patients, nice pictures...I have nothing bad to say about it. I enjoyed my time there. Nothing exciting, but then, maybe that's a good thing. I met some new and interesting people. It is always humbling to be put in a situation where you are out of your comfort zone. To be thrown into a place I have never been, let alone worked, before is quite intimidating. I like new challenges and I enjoy a change in atmosphere from time to time. It makes me appreciate the comfort and stability of my own unit. Knowing the people you work with, knowing who you can count on, who you can trust, and where the things you need are always kept is an essential and often unrecognized attribute to critical care nursing. Its often the little things, the minor details, that make or break your shift. Comfort with your surroundings is one of those things. When they say "you will be floating", they dont just mean that you will go from your unit to another. They mean that you will just be there, floating in midair, waiting for the end of your shift, hoping nothing happens, because you dont know where anything is, who to ask for help, or what the unit norm is. You just glide along, float on through your shift, and at the end, come back down to reality. You know you did your best and your patients survived another night because you did all the right basic things. They floated because you floated.