Agency Nurse-from ER to Med-Surg

[ERnurse04]

I am an Agency Nurse who has only worked ER, and I have signed up to work some Med-Surg to get some extra hours. I have no experience in Med-Surg. How different is it? Would I be able to handle it? Please let me know what you guys think.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I did some agency work in med-surg when I worked in the ER. Big difference is the number of patients. I managed without difficulty. Good luck.

[PennyLane, RN]

I'm an ER agency nurse, and I worked one tele shift to see what it was like. It's VERY different! The facility where I was working had computer charting, so that slowed me down a lot. And I had to figure out things like...where the MARs are kept, how to know when there's a new order on the chart, chart-checks, using a particular color pen to check things off, and many other little things that I was very unfamiliar with. I had to remember to check for my meds, because if they're not in your pt's bin or pyxis access, you can't get them! Many things that I'm used to having on-hand or doing a certain way in the ER were not done on this floor. It was a bit difficult for me. Luckily my pts were fairly stable and I made it through my 8 hours. By the end of the day I finally had all my am assessments done! Luckily I got my 10 meds in by 11, somehow.

Good luck! You need to organize your day in a very different way from working in the ER where you basically go with the flow and take care of your pts as their conditions change. On the floor you have to organize ahead of time.