What Is It Like?

Specialties Med-Surg

Published

Hello Everyone

What I would like to know is what is it like to work as a Medical-Surgical Nurse? What type of care will I be giving to patients?

carmen

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Are you in school now? I'm concerned you don't really know what a nurse does!

To answer your question. A med/ surg nurse, does assessments on her pts throughout the day to moniter her pt's status. They pass meds, assess for effectiveness, interpret lab results so they know when to call an MD and what can wait. They hang IV's, blood and blood products. They educate families and pt's. They start IVs. Assist with procedures, do dressing changes, chart...chart...chart...chart...chart...chart....chart.... deal with difficult family members, MD's. Do a lot of customer service. Advocate for pt's when an MD doesn't order the correct med, route, dose, etc..They prep pts for surgery and do post op care.

Call MD's for orders. Enter orders and carry them out in a timely fashion. Med/Surg nurses place catheters, NG tubes and pull such tubes.

chart...chart....chart....chart...chart.. Med/Surg nurses watch telemetry for cardiac status and assess such and intervene when necessary.

Med/Surg nurses think critically to keep a pt from crashing. If something does happen, they call a RR or a code. Med/Surg nurses do CPR, bag, suction pts, place IV's fluids rapidly and pray their pt's stabilizes. At times they have to deal with death and help family members as well. Med/Surg nurses have to clean the body and prep it for the morgue or funeral home.

Med/Surg nurses bath patients, and feed pts and also change beds. They help toilet and clean up when necessary. Med/surg nurses give hugs and hold hands of dying pt's or worried family members. They also laugh with them and find the good things in life when there doesn't seem to be any.

Med/Surg nurses are speciality nurses like any other certified speciality. They deal with all age groups and diagnosis and have to adjust accordingly. Every room has a different kind of personlity and diagnosis waiting for the nurse. How you treat one pt is not how you can treat the guy next door.

Med/Surg nurses are vastly under appreciated because people think it's the bottom of the nursing chain and you don't have to be smart to be a Med/Surg nurse. Med/Surg nurses KEEP their pts out of ICU. If there was no med/Surg ED would have no place to put their pt's.

Med/Surg nurses ROCK...

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I ****loved*** your description!!

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Great description!!! Tho I believe as a LTC nurse before I went to dialysis We were lowest on the totem poll lol

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Tokmom: I liked your description as well!

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Hi Tokmom

I would like to thank you for answering my post it was very helpful. As to answer your question as to whether I am in school yes I am. I am taking pre-requites for hopefully entering into a RN program. I was originally going to go to LPN school ,but I was advised to pursue going to RN school instead because there are more employment opportunities for RN's which I want to be. I used to be a CNA at a nursing home several years ago. I am currently on uneployement and I am hoping to volunteer in an emergency room at a local hospital I hope that works out.

Carmen

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Specializes in Med surg, Public Health, School Nursing.

Awesome answer!

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Specializes in MICU - CCRN, IR, Vascular Surgery.

Med/Surg nurses are speciality nurses like another other certified speciality. They deal with all age groups and diagnosis and have to adjust accordingly. Every room has a different kind of personlity and diagnosis waiting for the nurse. How you treat one pt is not how you can treat the guy next door.

Med/Surg nurses are vastly under appreciated because people think it's the bottom of the nursing chain and you don't have to be smart to be a Med/Surg nurse. Med/Surg nurses KEEP their pts out of ICU. If there was no med/Surg ED would have no place to put their pt's.

Med/Surg nurses ROCK...

I just wanted to especially give two thumbs up to this part of your post! Med surg nurses are masters of time management and prioritization, without a doubt! Hospitals couldn't make it without them!

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
Great description!!! Tho I believe as a LTC nurse before I went to dialysis We were lowest on the totem poll lol

That thought process is someone who has never worked LTC! It ain't easy!

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Gee, thanks everyone. :o I'm just a wee bit passionate about Med/Surg nurses, lol.

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Specializes in ICU, Med-Surg.

tokmom: that was fantastic.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Are you in school now? I'm concerned you don't really know what a nurse does!

To answer your question. A med/ surg nurse, does assessments on her pts throughout the day to moniter her pt's status. They pass meds, assess for effectiveness, interpret lab results so they know when to call an MD and what can wait. They hang IV's, blood and blood products. They educate families and pt's. They start IVs. Assist with procedures, do dressing changes, chart...chart...chart...chart...chart...chart....chart.... deal with difficult family members, MD's. Do a lot of customer service. Advocate for pt's when an MD doesn't order the correct med, route, dose, etc..They prep pts for surgery and do post op care.

Call MD's for orders. Enter orders and carry them out in a timely fashion. Med/Surg nurses place catheters, NG tubes and pull such tubes.

chart...chart....chart....chart...chart.. Med/Surg nurses watch telemetry for cardiac status and assess such and intervene when necessary.

Med/Surg nurses think critically to keep a pt from crashing. If something does happen, they call a RR or a code. Med/Surg nurses do CPR, bag, suction pts, place IV's fluids rapidly and pray their pt's stabilizes. At times they have to deal with death and help family members as well. Med/Surg nurses have to clean the body and prep it for the morgue or funeral home.

Med/Surg nurses bath patients, and feed pts and also change beds. They help toilet and clean up when necessary. Med/surg nurses give hugs and hold hands of dying pt's or worried family members. They also laugh with them and find the good things in life when there doesn't seem to be any.

Med/Surg nurses are speciality nurses like another other certified speciality. They deal with all age groups and diagnosis and have to adjust accordingly. Every room has a different kind of personlity and diagnosis waiting for the nurse. How you treat one pt is not how you can treat the guy next door.

Med/Surg nurses are vastly under appreciated because people think it's the bottom of the nursing chain and you don't have to be smart to be a Med/Surg nurse. Med/Surg nurses KEEP their pts out of ICU. If there was no med/Surg ED would have no place to put their pt's.

Med/Surg nurses ROCK...

:bow:

Well said. I believe med/surg will be the most challenging of any unit.

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