Introduction
Nurse floating reassigns nurses from their regular assignments to areas affected by staff shortages. Therefore, floating nurses to specialty areas is a significant problem because it involves moving nurses from their regular work areas to a new environment with unique patient needs. This reassignment can be problematic because it can induce anxiety, stress, and frustration in the nurses and trigger rifts between nurses and management. Research on the risks associated with floating nurses to specialty areas is needed to assess nurses’ perceptions and experiences with this practice. The study findings are vital in guiding healthcare organizations on the potential risks they or their staff may encounter due to nurse floating.
Several studies have examined the practice of nurse floating and confirmed its risks to nurse practitioners. Karim et al. (2023) found that floated intensive care unit (ICU) nurses experienced increased levels of stress and anxiety, felt unsafe, and suffered from low morale (p. 7). These experiences were because nurses feared they might make errors working in unfamiliar territories with strange work routines. According to Lafontant (2016), experienced nurses feel that floating denies them autonomy because working in unfamiliar settings robs them of self-sufficiency (p. 174). In short, a nurse is unlikely to show initiative when reassigned to a new, unfamiliar work environment. The study by Kennedy et al. (2022) shows that floated nurses experience new interpersonal dynamics because of unfamiliarity (p. 6). Therefore, since research confirms that nurse floating is problematic, it is vital to investigate the risks associated with floating nurses to specialty areas.
Conceptual Framework
Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) evaluative model is the ideal conceptual framework for investigating the risks associated with floating nurses to specialty areas. The history of this model begins when Lincoln and Guba saw the need for researchers to establish participants’ trustworthiness. They developed the model, which is characterized by stringent criteria in qualitative research. At the time of publishing Naturalistic Inquiry, Lincoln was stationed in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Kansas. Guba was stationed in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University. The duo’s evaluative model encompasses four concepts: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. The model proposes that these concepts are vital in establishing the trustworthiness of a research study. The model assumes that qualitative researchers must guarantee reliability and validity by implementing verification strategies during inquiry (Morse et al., 2002, p. 13). A significant limitation of the model is that it is ‘primitive’ and should be used as a set of guidelines rather than a theoretical underpinning.
Conclusion
Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) evaluative model relates to the capstone project because it helps establish a framework for collecting data from nurses who have been floated to specialty areas. The model best fits the project because its four concepts are vital in establishing the trustworthiness of nurses’ feedback. For credibility, the model helps establish the ‘truth’ of the findings, and for transferability, it helps show that the findings are applicable in different healthcare settings. For dependability, the model helps establish the consistency of the findings, and for confirmability, it helps establish a degree of neutrality, protecting the findings from researcher bias, interest, or motivation.
References
Karim, H. N., Groom, P., & Tiu, M. (2023). Intensive care unit staff perceptions of redeployment to other clinical areas: A mixed method approach. SAGE Open Nursing, 9, 1–9.https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608231196401
Kennedy, E., Kennedy, P., Hernandez, J., Shakoor, K., & Munyan, K. (2022). Understanding redeployment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative analysis of nurse reported experiences. SAGE Open Nursing, 8, 1–10.doi: 10.1177/23779608221114985
Lafontant, M. P. (2016). Exploring nurses’ feelings on floating: A phenomenological study. University of Phoenix ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications.
Morse, J. M., Barrett, M., Mayan, M., Olson, K., & Spiers, J. (2002).Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research.International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2), 13-22.
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