During times of low census, nurses who elect not to float have the option to take time off without pay or to use benefit time. Each nursing unit keeps a list that tracks days taken off by staff for low census. The nurse on a low-census unit is offered to float (or willing to walk) if he/she is at the top of the rotation to take a day off for low census. If we experience a time when no nurse agrees to float within the hospital, we have a safety net of float pool nurses who can fill the vacancy. The choice to walk or not provides nurses an opportunity to exercise autonomy, an important nursing satisfier and a characteristic of a Magnet facility.8,9 Through this process, nursing leadership at Aultman uses the skill and knowledge of the nursing staff to meet the changing needs on the nursing units.
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