[sasparilla]

"Sometimes I think they are so short of med/surg nurses that once they have you they won't let you go."

I've heard that this is true. People where I work have actually told me that. When I finish in a year and a half, my plan is to go directly into the SICU. I've been lucky enough to have been working in one of the local hospitals as a unit secretary, usually in SICU but also floating to med-surg floors, ortho and rehab. I've gotten to see what type of work the nurses do on those floors enough to know that med-surg is NOT for me. If you already have an interest in one area, why make yourself miserable by working in a specialty that you don't have a genuine interest in? At least trying to get a position in your area of interest is worth it.

I have great respect for the nurses who work in med-surg, , they have a lot to deal with: lots of patients, dealing with families, etc. What I like about the SICU is that the environment is more controlled, people aren't in there every hour of the day. The nusrses where I work have time to focus on their patients without so many distractions. Yes, they are sicker so there's no doubt that things can go bad quickly. But they are right there with them instead of having to run the halls between 5-6-7-8 patients. That to me sounds so much more stressful.

[aprilgirltoo]

I started my nursing career in Hemodialysis, right out of school. I felt it was the best thing for me as that was the area that I was interested in. I was able to focus specifically on that area of patient care and grow from it. I have been a Nephrology nurse now for going on 4 years and still have no regrets....

[mobileRN]

I have been an RN for 27 years and this is an area where things are changing for the better. It is fine to NOT do a year of med-surg and go directly to the specialty you want right away. There are alot of RNs who really like general med-surg and they are the ones who should be working there. Hiring practices have changed in the past few years, at the hospital where I work, we do hire grads to specialy areas. As a result turnover is down on our med-surg units and the med-surg units have gotten higher ratings from patients, probably because the patient can tell that the RN is happy with their job. So I say apply for the area you want to work in, my only exception is that if you want to float you do need a year somewhere and for that I would reccomend med-surg.

[daisygurl]

Hi! I am a nursing student right now and I have the same problem I wanted to specialize and become a L&D nurse right away also but I was hired on the Med-Surg floor. I hope that I have the opportunity to get off of the floor in one year. Is L&D all what you thought it was going to be?