Surgical Nurse vs. Cardiac Nurse???

[palmettogirl]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site, but I have been viewing the posts for about a year now and they are really helpful. I am graduating in December and recently began applying for a job. I am interested in a surgical floor because I've heard it was a really good floor, but I am not exactly sure what surgical nurses do. Could someone please tell me a little bit about your day. Do you hang a lot of IV drips or antibiotics? Do you think this floor is a way to get good experience for a new grad? I'm also really interested in cardiac nursing, but I am kind of nervous about it. Especially all the EKG interpretations. I was wondering what ya'll think would be the best experience. I want to learn a lot! Thanks!

[Dolce, RN]

The two specialties are very different but both equally good. I am going to be biased in my opinion because I love surgery. I primarily work in pre- and post-op and just love it. There is something very consistent about surgery that provides a nurse with a great amount of confidence. You will see the exact same surgeries over and over and over again and after taking care of a few of them you will come to anticipate orders. You will notice what is normal after surgery and what is not. Teaching and education are huge with surgery. The main issues you will be addressing are pain control (big one), post-op nausea/vomiting, post-op mobility (big one for any ortho case), incision care, drain care, foley care, IVs, epidurals, wound vacs, blood/TPN/PPN administration, the list could go on and on. Also, remember, just because the patient is a surgical patient doesn't mean that they aren't also a medical patient. You will see the same diagnoses that you'd find on any floor--DM, CHF, COPD, CAD, cancer, etc.

You mentioned that the surgical floor has good reviews. That is a good sign. Try to find out about the cardiac floor that way you can have a good comparison. Hopefully some cardiac nurses will get on here so they can describe what they like about that type of unit.

[blinks14]

I work on a surgical telemetry floor and really like it. I am a new grad, I'm about 9 weeks in and transitioning off of orientation. I have seen a ton of things since I started and have gotten a lot of experience from the patients we receive. I like the cardiac piece of the patients I receive but I also like the surgical piece. I previously worked in ambulatory surgery and a surgical specialty hospital. My problem with the ambulatory surgery is that it was too repetitive for my liking. I need change and lots of it. But for some people that is comforting because they can anticipate what patients will need.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

you're in a good position -- seemingly equally interested in two different floors. one of the things that will make or break your first nursing job is the team of folks you're working with. try to get a feel for what kinds of floors they are in terms of teamwork, camaradarie, support from management, orientation, etc. see what the doctors and the respiratory therapists and the agency or float nurses think about each floor. try to get a feel for which one feels best to you when you interview.

but it may all come down to which floor offers you a job! good luck with the job hunting!

[Piki]

I'm a fairly recent grad (18 mos) and started on a surgical telemetry floor. So we get a bit of both (mostly surgical pts, the occasional medical pt, surgical pt that needs telemetry, etc). We are known to be the busiest floor in the hospital (excepting of course, the ED!) We do have ALOT of IVs and IV antibiotics, drips (heparin, protonix, any cardiac meds that need titrated go to a different floor), lots of TPN, occasional feeding tubes, alot of treatments, dressing changes, wound care, wound packing, pre & post surgeries, lots of preps for tests - scopes, CTs, etc. I really like the fast pace (most days) and I have learned alot. I thought I wanted cardiac when I was in school, but chose this job instead b/c I was told by many people this was the unit to go to for learning the most "stuff". I do like the surgical patients better than the medical patients, too. In many cases we see the patients get better before our very eyes and you feel like you do make a difference. Not so much with the medical pts who often suffer from chronic issues and exacerbations (and of course many of our surgical pts have many co-morbidities and complex issues).

As part of our orientation and training, we were required to take a 3 day EKG/dysrhythmia course, as well as ACLS. So we get the cardiac "stuff" too, to a degree.

[HonestRN]

I started out as a new grad on a cardiac step down unit and loved it. It was intense and I learned a lot. I moved to another state and applied for the cardiac unit but they wanted more hours than I wanted to work so now I work on an orthopedic and general surgical floor. I like cardiac much better but surgical isn't bad. I've learned a lot there as well. From my experience cardiac patients are more compliant with treatment plans and well you know what they say about ortho surgical patients, they have a knee done and all extremities become non functional.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

I work on cardiac telemetry. In general, I really enjoy working with this patient population. I like EKGs, cardiac drips, recovering post caths, etc. The thing that makes it less desireable to me is the amount of medical overflow we get.

I agree with Ruby Vee's comments about the teamwork on the unit, the camaraderie, etc. That's huge.

Best of luck to you!