[RealNurseWitch]

Well, I don't know about the ANCC's exam... I took the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurse's exam, the CMSRN, and passed it, as did just about everyone else at that hospital who took it EXCEPT ONE person.

So... consider that. =)

[siggie13]

Originally Posted by ColtsRN85

Don't want to bust your bubble. But, my head don says that the med-surg test is a slam dunk, by that I mean that everybody passes this test. Once you pay the money, you've passed. It's like "Who'sWho among high school and college students" ; you pay the money to buy the "Who'sWho" book and your name is put in it. It's not based on your abilities to take a test. My Don says the hospitals get a 50% kickback for the exams taken. That's why hospitals push it so much. So, I have lost faith in the credibility of the exam and it's importance and relevance to my profession.

I took the med/surg test with about 100 people and at least on fourth failed. I passed and immediately got a raise from my hospital for being certified. Worth the test. By the way, I thought the test was worthless at questioning my surgical nurse competency. It was very general and my particular test was mostly about research. I, too, think this is just another way for a certain group to make money without truly making a difference.

[siggie13]

Originally Posted by ColtsRN85

Thanks for the info and link. I guess I am really soured on taking this exam. It seems meaningless to me. Why say that you are "certified" in the area that is so basic and not specialized. This type of nursing has alot of "average" people and many who could not do well in any other areas. I find it ironic that there is a "certification" for it.

At my hospital, if you work the surgical floor, you have to really know your stuff since we deal with the simplest to the most complicated surgeries and I would not classify my staff as "average". The same applies to the medical floor nurses where it takes years before they feel comfortable dealing with their "heavy" patients. When my surgical floor is full and patients must be sent to other departments, the surgeons always want their patients sent back to the surgical floor where their care is more geared toward their particular surgery. I really don't know of any department in a hospital that I would consider the staff "average". In my book, all nurses are specialists in their fields.

[suni]

Med Surg is a speciality and not one many people like due to the patient load and the turn around time for beds. Yes, you learn basic med surg in nursing school but I have found that a percentage of new grads learn it for the test and have no idea how to apply it in the clinical setting when the security blanket of an instructor is gone.
Remember also that in most facilities med surg beds occupy the highest percentage of in patients and therefore contribute to the financial status of the hospital by maintaining there census while other speciality units may carry a low census and generally speaking OB and ICU have smaller units.
Any certification by any nurse should be praised, this is something that most nurses have to pay for themselves and I know that there have been people who failed certification exams.
I personally believe that if you are a manager of a unit you should be certified in your speciality area and if it is a slam dunk as a previous poster stated then I hope that the manager they refered to is certified.

[yumaRN1990]

I took the exam last May and passed, but did not get the results for a month. I would not say that it is a slam duck type of text. I can tell you that I will not let mine expire, becasue I definetly don't want to have to take it again. Very nerve wraking, but I am not the best test taker in the world.

[military girl]

I'm sorry, but I don't happen to agree with your assessment that med/surg has "average" people working in it and that it's an area for people who couldn't make it in any other specialty. I'm a military nurse and a med/surg nurse and I just spent a year taking care of patients in Iraq. So if that make me "average", thenyou need to think again

[yumaRN1990]

Originally Posted by military girl

I'm sorry, but I don't happen to agree with your assessment that med/surg has "average" people working in it and that it's an area for people who couldn't make it in any other specialty. I'm a military nurse and a med/surg nurse and I just spent a year taking care of patients in Iraq. So if that make me "average", they you need to think again

You Go Girl! I am proud of you and thank you for you do for our troops.
I am a med surg nurse and like you, I feel we are far from "average". Med surg nurses are thrown into different things everyday and we have to be up to date on new skills all the time. It is no longer someone just coming in for surgery, they usually have two or three other problems as well as their surgery. It is a fast paced floor and your on your feet a lot but it is worth it.

[siggie13]

Originally Posted by military girl

I'm sorry, but I don't happen to agree with your assessment that med/surg has "average" people working in it and that it's an area for people who couldn't make it in any other specialty. I'm a military nurse and a med/surg nurse and I just spent a year taking care of patients in Iraq. So if that make me "average", thenyou need to think again

Totally agree with you!!! I have been saying on this site how difficult med-surg nursing is and how it is indeed a specialty. We need to see all nurses as specialists in their fields and stop being snobs about ICU, NICU, etc. ALL NURSES ARE WORTHY OF ADMIRATION.

[rn/writer]

Originally Posted by ColtsRN85

Thanks for the info and link. I guess I am really soured on taking this exam. It seems meaningless to me. Why say that you are "certified" in the area that is so basic and not specialized. This type of nursing has alot of "average" people and many who could not do well in any other areas. I find it ironic that there is a "certification" for it.

The bolded part seems to say that nurses who aren't smart enough for any other specialty end up in med/surg and that med/surg is so simple that granting certification is kind of silly.

Quite frankly, I think med/surg is a demanding and challenging specialty. Med/surg nurses don't just concentrate on a specific and expected set of diagnoses and meds as they do in cardiac or renal or neuro. They have to know it all. Hundreds of meds, dozens of diagnoses, lots of co-morbidities. And the acuity keeps increasing. Patients who would have been sent to an ICU ten years ago are now ending up in med/surg.

To imply that med/surg is the bottom rung of the ladder and is a specialty area not worth certifying is to demonstrate a gross underestimation of the skills, capabilities and wisdom these nurses possess. Untalented nurses don't generally last long in med/surg. It's just too tough a field.

The testing itself my be of questionable value, but med/surg nurses rock.