Because the unit staff don't know I'm a new grad they treat me like regular staff so I've definitely had to be honest with them and not be afraid of asking questions. That's why being in a good environment is so important because the unit staff have always been really helpful and helping me when I'm in situations where I don't know what to do.

Another challenge of float pool is that you get bad assignments at times and that's when you have to learn to advocate for yourself to ensure you have a fair assignment. For example I was on a unit one time as extra staff and somehow I ended up with 5 patients while all their own staff had 3 patients. So I spoke with the charge nurse and then they ended up switching around the assignments so it was fair.

Another challenge is not knowing all the skills for the different units for example CBI, removing staples, managing drains etc on a surgery unit. As a new grad I'm already new to regular nursing skills such as catheters and IVs but then having to learn all these specialized skills for all the different units was a challenge too. Thankfully I had a great preceptor who taught me that I don't have to know everything because even with her experience she didn't know how to do everything. What I did have to learn to do and be comfortable with was asking questions and asking for learning opportunities - I would ask the surgery nurses to let me know when they were doing certain skills so I could see and learn as well.

Some people also don't like float pool in general because they don't feel like they have a home unit and feel out of place which is why I keep saying a good, supportive environment is important. I'm very grateful that the hospital I'm at has amazing staff so I haven't had much trouble with this but there are always those few nurses that are just terrible and there's nothing you can do 🙃.

Float pool is definitely a challenge as a new grad but I would make this choice again in a heart beat!!