What's the issue with med surg?

Nurses General Nursing

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The title says it all! Everyone in my nursing program hates med surg and are hoping to have more option besides med surg when school is over. I extern on a med surg floor and most of the new nurses tell me that they only work med surg because they were unable to obtain employment in their specialty of choice. Even on this website it seems that a lot of nurses are interested in OB, ICU and ER and you never really run across too many that wanna work med surg. What is the issue with med surg?

I work on a medical floor, and I love it.

Not every floor is as poorly staffed as those portrayed here (thought I have not doubt that M/S is truly that bad in many hospitals). Whether days or nights, our nurses carry from 3-5 pts. There is always at least one aide on the floor, assigned to the heaviest/neediest pts (ie turns, up with 2, feeders, incontinent, up to the bathroom with assist x 1 every 30 minutes, etc). We are well enough staffed, and I have no problem providing good care to all my pts during my shift, which is nights.

I think MS is difficult because it is not well-loved by administration, which in turn means that it doesn't quite get the support that other floors have. In my hospital, the medical floors and surgical floors are separate. Our medical floor has the largest staff of the entire hospital, but hemorrhages money because we are not a "specialty" floor, and don't therefore bring in the big bucks that ICU, surgery, and mother/baby do. We also are the only floor that doesn't have docs assigned just to it. The hospitalists hang out in the ICU/step down unless there is an emergency out on our floor, and the cardiologists can't hardly be found outside of ICU. The ED has their own docs. The surgeons advocate for the surgical floor. The OBs are there for the mother/baby floor, the pediatricians for peds. Our floor is the only one that doesn't have docs yammering for improvements. Consequently, our floor is the only floor that hasn't undergone a major upgrade and remodel. All the other floors have been remodeled in the last 4 years, and look like Hiltons. Our floor hasn't been remodeled in over 20 years, and we look like an old, communist era institution. Other floors have state of the art technology, because the docs demand it, and our floor is retrofitted with leftover miscellaneous computers, etc.

Oh well, I still love it. I get honestly bored to death when I float to ICU/stepdown, and I hate surgical because the surgeons have the worst attitudes and think they are gods. Peds is fine, if my pt is over 2, but I hate taking care of the wee ones. I did mother/baby/nursery/OB, but honest to God, it was so repetitive and unvaried, I was bored there, too. Although I like the pace of the ED, I like to get to know my pt, not patch them up and send them on. Rehab is too mindnumbing for me. If we had a psych unit, I think I'd like that, maybe part time.

Medical nursing seems to be the only one I like. So here I stay.

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Specializes in Interested in Oncology and/or Pediatrics.

Although it's a shame to say, M/S rotation for the people in my clinical group was a very bad experience. We were on afternoon/night shift when most of the major meds for the day had already been given by the morning group, and the same goes with most of the major skills that we were allowed to do (e.g. foleys, IV's, NG tubes). Of course, most of the surgeries had been completed by the evening, so there wasn't even anything to go observe. So, after assessments, charting, and meds the only thing left was to cater to our patients, who usually didn't want anything. Our instructor had nothing for us to do, and the nurses would get very ticked at us if we actually asked if they needed help with anything. Every shift they would walk through the halls lamenting to each other, "Is that the only thing these students can do is line the halls?!" Heaven forbid anyone actually reported a VS that was out of the normal range, let alone charted it. Then they really treated us like idiots (this was third quarter/beginning of second semester at the time).

I can't judge the whole lot based on the one experience, but it was enough to make me groan at the thought of ever having to set foot on a M/S unit again!

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I survived med-surg for a year.

I work ICU now and like that I no longer have to depend on CNAs. The quality of the CNA can make or break your day.

If you read enough threads here, you know how much conflict that relationship can have. Nursing school made delegation look way too easy.

There were a few stellar CNAs. If I was scheduled to work with them, my day would be so much better than if I was working with some of the others.

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
I firmly believe the med/surg is one of the most demanding, least appreciated specialties of all. Too many people believe it is nothing more than the default setting if you don't have something more exciting picked out. They are sooo wrong. Med/surg is a marathon and a sprint and a stake out and a juggling act all at the same time.

MED/SURG NURSES ROCK!!!!

A year an a half ago, when census was low (seemed to be for every hospital), for some reason the admin. made it mandatory that when ICU didn't have enough patients, they could float ANYWHERE. Before, it was to the ER and step down units only.........no M/S, rehab, ortho or any other high ratio units for them. In the past year and a half, they've lost over half their staff, there are only a few veterans hanging on. Most that quit cited the above policy change as a contributing factor.

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical, Ambulatory Care.

@ gluttonforpunishment, LoL we actually had that issue when I worked yesterday... There was this little lady who just talked and talked and talked, and I will say that the though of "miss, I have to get back to work" did cross my mind at the time, ha!

I much rather prefer to talk to them for a few seconds versus hearing a ventilator breathe for them, ya know?

I really reflects when it comes to those patients filling out those surveys after discharge that determine what care is paid for. And yes, that nurse-pt ratio is crazy, but the hospital is in the process of getting that under control (hence one reason why I have a job, lol!)). We also have a LPN and CNA for every RN, so that's nice (but I know it's not that way for everyone).

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
I survived med-surg for a year.

I work ICU now and like that I no longer have to depend on CNAs. The quality of the CNA can make or break your day.

If you read enough threads here, you know how much conflict that relationship can have. Nursing school made delegation look way too easy.

There were a few stellar CNAs. If I was scheduled to work with them, my day would be so much better than if I was working with some of the others.

This is definitely an issue. And I completely agree with nursing school making delegation look easy. They need to do some scenarios where the CNA blatantly ignores you and goes back to checking her text messages!

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Specializes in Agency, ortho, tele, med surg, icu, er.

I work icu now and I loved med/surg. I still float sometimes to med/surg because I enjoy it. Now with my icu background I have a bit more knowledge and can help out more when a med/surg patient goes bad.

I do not miss the powerstrugles with cnas. I also dont miss when some nurses think that cnas are slaves. Yes, you can change a bedpan as an rn. Dont expect cna's to and yes you can answer a call light on the nighshift when you are not busy.

Besides that though... med/surg gives you the background to deal with just about any issue, and gives you assesement skills that are insanly fine tuned. You run accross all kinds of patients and that experience will help you wherever you go.

Some of the best nurses I have ever worked with were medsurg nurses.

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This is definitely an issue. And I completely agree with nursing school making delegation look easy. They need to do some scenarios where the CNA blatantly ignores you and goes back to checking her text messages!

This is so true! I got used to working with our regular CNAs who would argue, complain, and dissapear. Found 2 hanging out in an empty patient room one sleeping the other watching tv. Reported it, they didn't get fired. Our hospital paid them so little, 8.50 an hour it was so hard to keep them on staff! We had one names Jackie who was the best! Every time I would go to do something it would already be done. It was such a shock to me lol. She actually worked really hard, did a good job, and went above and beyond.Patients loved her too. I had to beg her to work the same schedule as me. Haha. I heard from her a few months ago, she just started nursing school! A good cna can really make or break your shift! I told her when she graduates to call me and I will help her find a job. Love her!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

i totally agree!! i have worked med/surg 3 out of the 6 years that i have been a nurse. i love, love, love taking care of my patients.....but, the one thing that i have noticed is the nurse/patient ratio is getting worse!! i hate it that i don't have time to pamper my patients like i want to!! i am seriously thinking about applying to a clinic job...

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