Question about Med/Surg floor nursing

[moliuchick, RN]

hi, recently i have applied for a out-of-state nursing internship on a med/surg floor. since i am a new grad and i am not in the same state that i am applying for my job, i have no idea how it is gonna work. if anyone can give me some informations about it, i sure appreciate it.

let me give you some informations that the recruiter of the hospital gave me:

the floor that i am going to do my internship is a med/surg floor and on that one floor, there are neuro, ortho, resp... so it is pretty much like all different kinds of med/surg on one floor?

the hospitals that i have worked with in my state, they all have neuro on one floor and ortho the other and it is not mixed up like this. so does it mean that i will be pretty much trained on everything on that floor? do you think this is a good opportunity for new nurse to learn skills?

one more thing that i want to ask is, this is not a major huge hospital, and it is the only one that provide big bucks for relocation and sign on bonus but i will have to drive for about an hour to get there from my new house. i am wondering first of all, why are they so generous? (their hourly pay is a just a little below average)

if the recruiter ever asks me, "why do you pick a hospital that is an hours away from your house?" i don't think i can say, "because you have attractive sign on and relocation bonus" what should i say to impress them?

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Sounds like a good oppoortunity.

You gotta wonder about those places that offer the big bucks, and why are they so short of nurses? Could be they are bigger and need more nurses and this is the only way to get them.

[live4today, RN]

If it sounds too good to be true it probably is, so be very cautious. Just from reading your post, I personally would NOT touch that place with a ten foot pole, but you must make your own decisions of course.

As for the unit itself having a variety of med/surg patients? That's the only kind of med/surg I know. You will learn to care for a variety of diagnoses which will prove useful for you in nursing in the long run. That is not to say that you should take any med/surg job just for the money. It's very hard work, and requires a lot of multi-tasking, etc.

Think about the decision you are about to make long and hard. It doesn't sound like a good move for a new nurse. And remember the old saying about "You don't always get what you imagine something to be........." :)

[moliuchick, RN]

If it sounds too good to be true it probably is, so be very cautious. Just from reading your post, I personally would NOT touch that place with a ten foot pole, but you must make your own decisions of course.

As for the unit itself having a variety of med/surg patients? That's the only kind of med/surg I know. You will learn to care for a variety of diagnoses which will prove useful for you in nursing in the long run. That is not to say that you should take any med/surg job just for the money. It's very hard work, and requires a lot of multi-tasking, etc.

Think about the decision you are about to make long and hard. It doesn't sound like a good move for a new nurse. And remember the old saying about "You don't always get what you imagine something to be........." :)

Thanks for your advice. I have checked this hospital on this website and on other website. This hospital is known for their internship. One member in this forum even praised what a great job they had done for her during her preceptorship. So I am pretty confident that this is a decent hospital and this is not a scam.

I think I will ask the interviewer the nurse/patient ratio when I actually decide to work for them. I hope the nurses work load there is not too bad.:stone

[moliuchick, RN]

Sounds like a good oppoortunity.

You gotta wonder about those places that offer the big bucks, and why are they so short of nurses? Could be they are bigger and need more nurses and this is the only way to get them.

I just did some research on this hospital. It has just finished it expansion in the ER unit. I am not sure about the Med/surg though.