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Floating Nurses To Specialty Areas, Deborah S. Hickman

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

As the largest group of health care providers, nurses play a vital role in the safety and satisfaction of patients. Despite this vital role, the nursing shortage continues to grow. As a result of this shortage and to fix staffing insufficiencies, nurses are frequently assigned to work in an area that they are not familiar with. This reassignment of a nurse to a different unit from their normally assigned unit is referred to as "floating." Nurses that are reassigned to a different unit from their normally assigned unit are referred to as "float nurses." Some healthcare professionals believe the use …