Personal Characteristics, Perception on Nurse Floating Practice and Patient Safety Among Nurses in Cebu City

Nurse floating had been a widely used tool in the nursing profession to address manpower issues. How this concept affects patient safety had been widely studied in the international area. However, there are limited studies at the local level including how it is influenced by personal characteristics. This quantitative research employed a descriptive, correlational research design to assess the interrelationship among personal characteristics, perceptions on nurse floating practice and patient safety among nurses in Cebu City for the first quarter of 2024. Findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents were coming from private healthcare institutions. The nurses were distributed from the different areas in the hospital, however, almost a quarter of them were assigned in the Medical-Surgical unit. Majority experienced being floated to another unit and over one third had 1 to 3 years of practice in the organization. Majority of the nurses were regular employees and majority had been working in their unit for 1 to 3 years. Over a quarter had a total year of practice of the nursing profession for 1 to 3 years. The perceptions on nurse floating practice were highly practiced. Work area or unit and the hospital were rated as fair while supervisor or manager, communication, patient safety grade, and the frequency of events reported were rated as high. Overall, the patient safety was rated as high. Experience of being floated to another unit is significantly correlated with the perceptions of nurse floating practice. Experienced being floated to another unit was significantly correlated with the perceptions of patient safety. Perceptions on nurse floating practice was significantly correlated with the perceptions on work unit or area of patient safety and overall patient safety. In order to address the findings of the study a patient safety enhancement plan was created.