Learning, Floating, and Thriving at Children’s of Alabama

For some nurses, the structure and schedule of working on a single unit is preferable. Others might enjoy more variety in their work week. They crave a change of pace, a change of scenery, different learning opportunities, and challenges, like Natalie Allums.

Natalie has been working at Children’s for 5 years. She worked acute care floors at the beginning of her tenure, but this past year she began working for the Nursing Support Services department, most commonly referred to as the float pool, which gave her that change of pace she had been searching for.

“We don’t have that many float pool nurses,” she says, “it’s definitely hard to kind of switch back and forth. It’s a different mindset from acute care versus critical care, and it can be challenging for some. Just last week I worked in the NICU, the acute care pulmonary floor and the cardiac step-down unit. Float pool definitely offers a much wider variety.”

Before transitioning to float pool, Natalie worked on the general pediatrics floor for four years. Over the years, Natalie and her coworkers bonded and considered each other to be family.

“My coworkers were the reason I stayed on that unit as long as I did,” Natalie says, “I was a little worried stepping into the float pool role because I had been in that one place for so long, but what it has really done is make my family even bigger.”

Going from floor to floor and unit to unit has given Natalie the chance to learn and grow and create new relationships with her coworkers in different areas throughout the hospital. Although the pace is different and there’s a larger variety of work, she has no qualms about switching to float pool.

“One of the best decisions I have ever made in my life was going to float pool,” Natalie notes, “I have learned so much. I like learning as much as I can, getting my hands on as much as I can, so this has really helped me grow as a nurse.”

Helping employees learn and grow is just one facet of Children’s of Alabama’s mission. Another is being a leader in pediatric care.

“If you want to work at the best pediatric hospital, you want to work at Children’s of Alabama,” Natalie states, “I would not go to an adult hospital that had a pediatric wing because I want to work at the best of the best and Children’s of Alabama is the only freestanding children’s hospital in the state. We have physicians and nurses that come from all over the world to work at this hospital. We have access to the top of the cutting-edge technology to take care of these children.”

Not only does Children’s provide the best care for patients and their families, they also provide the opportunity to foster relationships among employees.

“It’s not about one person,” Natalie says, “it’s a family, and as a member of the float pool staff I feel like I’ve been adopted into all of these different families. The nurses on all of the units know me, and they get excited when I come to work with them. Every floor I go to I’m one of their own.”

“To be a float pool nurse, you have to be willing to do a variety of work. A lot of people like their home or regular unit and don’t want to jump around, so float pool might not be the best fit for them. You have to be willing to do whatever, whenever, wherever. That’s why I wanted to go to float pool because I wanted to be able to soak up as much knowledge as I possibly could.”

If you’re willing to do whatever, wherever and crave a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, join our float pool nurse team today!