From Tele to Med-Surg

[Jcat117]

Hello, everyone--

Please forgive me if something similar to this has been posted. I've searched extensively as I've been debating on my next steps for quite some time.

I graduated a year ago and my first job was telemetry. Telemetry was on the same floor as DOU, but I was months away from going to the DOU side of our floor.

On the tele unit, I lasted 4 months. I got overwhelmed everyday and kept pushing through as everyone was so supportive with saying "stick it out: it gets better." With all of the stress involved, I didn't believe that it was worth it.

I'm curious to if it would really be different on a stricktly med-surg floor. I LOVE learning about various diseases and conditions, but I don't necessarily want to specialize in one area like tele, oncology, or ortho. It seems as though it's tougher (though there are a few out there) to find a general med-surg floor as most of the job posts I see now days are med-surg/tele, med-surg/oncology, or med-surg/ortho. I could be wrong, but this seems like specializing when I was really hopeful in specializing in general med-surg.

There's a part of me that believes I would do well on a med-surg floor without specializing in a specific area. I feel passionate about learning about everything and I think for me having a specific specialty in med-surg takes some of that away for me. I think to be your best and the best nurse you can be, and to stick through the bad days and for it to be worth it, you have to be passionate and a genuine love for what you do.

The idea of med-surg excites me while having a specialty in med-surg takes that away from me because I don't have the same passion for a specific area like tele to learn EKG strips or oncology specifically (everyone has their passions and desires). I just hope that I'm not being delusional.

I remember my tele preseptor telling me that staying in med-surg is when you have no motivation to keep going into deeper areas. To me, I get excited about the idea of making a career out of general med-surg because I like taking care of people, I like educating them, and learning about diseases and procedures. I don't think I'd ever get bored, I have NO desire for ICU, ER, or any other specialties that my classmates use med-surg as a stepping stone for. I can see taking roots in general med-surg and being the best I can be for a career.

I appreciate any feedback or advice. I just hope I'm not being delusional or reaching for something that no longer exists. I'm hopeful it was just me being in tele and specializing in it when it's not what I really wanted and that there is still hope :)

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and for sharing your guidance.

[LittleIncognito, BSN, RN]

I totally understand, the floor is a busy crazy time from the moment you clock in. I started off on med/surg GI-GU with remote tele; left to go to Acute care with remote tele. I also floated to tele.

On all of these floors with different names, the patients literally have the same issues. Comorbidities.

It took a year to feel good about my time management. After that you have much more confidence. The night shift also made it a bit better.

If you go to med-surg, use it as a stepping stone or stay if you'd like. I know many great nurses that stay & they end up being charge nurse for better assignments. If you had done med-surg 1st, you would have been great on a tele floor.

I left acute care after 5 years. Trying to find my niche :)

[kp038]

Bear in mind that on med-surg floors the patient ratios are generally higher than on specialty floors (6:1 or so) and the patients aren't necessarily any less needy. I'm curious about exactly what you didn't like about tele.