Need some light

[humble-nurse]

I started my career as an IMCU nurse at nights in one of the hospitals. Now with 18months experience, I got an offer from another hospital nearer to my house for the neuro-oncology MS , days position. I have been trying to get more knowledge about the unit and the work setting. I would greatly appreciate any help with this regard.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Were you able to shadow as part of the interview process? Shadowing would be the best option to gain insight into that particular unit. Other facilities and even other units at that facility can be completely different.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

It has been my experience that any med/surg unit has the potential for overflow general med/surg patients. You should expect to have anywhere from 5-7 patients as the norm. Admissions and discharges are part of the constant flow. Although oncology is consistent with blood transfusions out the wazoo in some places, I find it to be no more frequent than any other place I've worked. Chemo patients will be assigned to those who are certified in chemotherapy unless the patient has oral chemotherapeutic agents that do not require special handling. If the unit is neuro as well, your patients can range from new-onset CVA cases, to old CVA cases with other current, non-related health issues.

In the end, an open med/surg bed is an open med/surg bed, and will be filled with the first available prospect regardless of what unit it is on. Although the acuity will be lighter than in any ICU, the load will be much heavier because of the lighter acuity. You can expect to be called for report on your next patient while your current patient is making discharge travel arrangements. And, you can expect to be floated to cover other units when staffing dictates a shifting of manpower.

Add all of the above with unit-specific politics, and there you have the reason I became a float nurse years ago. The politics was the only thing that I could eliminate from all of the rest. As a float nurse, I was not required to attend anyone's staff meeting or fulfill any unit's obligations unless it was a facility-wide mandate.

Your new facility may operate completely differently. As Rose-Queen said, the best way to know the specifics of the hiring facility is to request a shadowing period of your potential unit...if they allow it. A couple of times, I just went in to a new facility as a visitor just to look around, paying close attention to what was going on and, I admit:blink:, to listen to general conversations that the nurses would have. A nurse having a bad day says a lot just in her body language. Several nurses having the same bad day, well....

Of course, you'd want to make a couple of different visits to get a more accurate assessment.