Ahh! New grad starting on a med/surg floor!

Published

Hello all!

I have been out of nursing school since April and will be starting my first job as an RN (oh my gosh!!!! ) on a Med/Surg floor early September. I feel ultra rusty and am wondering if any experienced nurses or recent hires know of a book that serves as a good refresher prior to heading into my med/surg position? I'm purchasing Medical-Surgical Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, but l am looking for any other recommendations! The reason I am a bit scared for September are the mere facts that my nursing school rotation in med/surg was back in April of 2008 and my recent 4-month preceptorship was in L&D. Saying I'm rusty is a bit of an understatement! :eek:

Thank you everyone!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Dont worry, you will remember more than you think! It will come to you as you face different situations. Its all about having confidence (or faking it), willing to admit you dont know everything and wanting to learn

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, PACU, MedSurg.

Completely understand and I am now on Day #2 of my orientation on MedSurg. I am so feeling very anxious and not very confident. I have conveyed that to the RN and she has been receptive and willing to teach me. It is not as bad as you think - more hands on versus book stuff at this point. So just focus and try not to overwhelm yourself to prevent burn out. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

confidence is the key! you will really learn when you are in the actual field. experience is really the best teacher. and you wont get to know the feeling of how it is like to work in MS until your yourself is there doing the job. everyday im learning new things and im enjoying. dont stress too much. whenever in doubt just ask.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

You might want to leave that med surg reference at home because you probably won't have time to look at it while you are at work. Paper work is easy. Fill in the blank. You have to concentrate on learning the policies and what their standards of care are for certain illnesses such as pneumonia, etc. What is the routine. Every hospital will have certain medications that they use the most and will have a standard formulary. Most will have some type of standard orders for certain things: for example, we have set sets of orders for each type of orthopedic surgery we do, all our PCA's, TPN, restraints etc. So get to know those standard order forms. Get to know your charge nurse and ask them what they expect from you. And your preceptor as well. If you are not getting the back up you need, let your manager know so that you can get what you need during orientation. It is a lot to learn.

What kind of floor will you be working on? What kind of patients? What shift? What will be the nurse/ patient ratio? How big is the hospital?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion