Cardiology VS med surg

oramar · Aug 31, 2001

I do not think that cardiology is any more difficult than med/surg, it just requires a more specialized body of knowledge. The truth is that you need plenty of orientation for both.

KellyandtheBoys · Aug 31, 2001

I don't think it is more DIFFICULT. It is, however, more specific and patients are more ACUTELY critical. IN a med/-surg. area you are responsible for more patients, have a broader spectrum of diagnosis. Patients aren't, in general, critically ill.

Recently, I returned to work after a 3 year abscence. I had been a critical care nurse (mostly C.C.U.) for many years. However, after a 3 year abscence, I found it difficult to jump right back into I.C.U. areas. I transferred to a less stressful I.M.C. for about 4 mos. and found that it really helped me tune up my skills and organization. I now work both the I.M.C. and I.C.U. I don't find either one more or less difficult. They are just different.

Mijourney · Aug 31, 2001

Hi. I agree with the previous posters. Erbs, my experience has been that many medical patients qualify to be on cardiac floors. In fact, hospitals that I've worked in use telemetry on both cardiology and med-surg floors. The main difference is usually the admitting physician and primary diagnosis. Understandably, cardiologists are usually the admitting physician on cardiology floors because the primary diagnosis is cardiac related. On med-surg, you will get plenty of exposure to patients with chronic cardiac problems. It's just that the primary diagnosis is not cardiac. Both areas are intense in my opinion.

I would recommend that you take the ACLS course if it is not required for med-surg, and if you're not signed up already. I feel that will put you in the right direction for working in cardiology.

Erb, how many attempts where you given to pass the competency exam? Will you get a chance to take it again? I wonder if you had passed the exam, if education would have come up with another excuse to send you to the med-surg floor. Best wishes.

erbs · Aug 31, 2001

hello!

its only our 4rth day orientation and the exams were clinical judgement skills the one that you have to watch the video and you have to come up with an answer within 7 minutes.

I guess you only have to take the exam once, and also

they didnt tell us to prepare for the exam ahead of time ....

also i feel that they dont want us there, since they advice us to go home and think.... if we want to go finish the orientation or not Human resource will just give us a call...but My friend and I decided to stay and just do the med surg.....

we feel insulted about this, coz you we are both foreign graduates.

egmillard · Sep 2, 2001

You know, that you will find a few med/surg patients on a cardiology unit, thats if you work in Telemetry. You do not need any cardiology experience to work on a cardiology unit, if the orientation is good. You will learn all you need to know, in time. Most of the nurses I work with on Tele are new grads, with very little experience at all.......................

Slowone · Sep 2, 2001

I was hired as a new grad (LPN) and through directly onto the tele floor. They put me through a telemetry certification program as well as EKG interpretation. Obviuosly prior to that I had no specific "cardiac experience", thats what you are supposeed to get when you start working.

This sounds a bit fishy to me, perhaps the med/surg staffing wasn't that great and they needed some reason to put you there instead. Why not just ask?!

Perhaps you could ask about being put in the float pool to gather experience from all over...?

Also, keep in mind, you will get experience with cardiac pts. on the med/surg floor, they will most likely just have unlying heart probs but it is a good way to learn how other diagnosis' work with the cardiac issue as a whole...therefore being a great learning experience for you.

Personally though, I liked doing cardiac nursing best, but everyone is different. Good luck :)