Could you tell me about Med-Surg?

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I really don't have any medical experience yet, but why is med-surg so good to learn from and gain experience (from what I have read)? I was told that these are patients who are about to go home (????)....is that really the case? Why would a med-surg unit be preferential to say the ER or ICU?

I thank you in advance for any input. I am a pre-nursing student who really is just curious about the field. When I begin working I really want to do the best job possible, and ofcourse I want to be good at my job. I definitely appreciate any input:).

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Specializes in LTAC, Homehealth, Hospice Case Manager.

From what I've seen a med/surg pts stay can be from a couple of days to a few weeks...depends on why they are there. The average pt load (speaking only from what I know about this area) is 5-7 pts per nurse. With that many you have to learn to handle multiple tasks at one time...time management. Med/surg is one of the best places to learn that. Also, there's usually a variety of illnesses so you get to experience & see alot of different things. Most specialty units prefer, but don't necessarily require, the med/surg experience first. Hope this helps...good luck to you!

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Specializes in Home health, Med/Surg.

Med/surg is not for people who are about to go home. It is for patients who are acutely ill and do not need cardiac monitoring. If they need monitoring they go to a telemetry unit. If a person has been in the ICU then telemetry-step down then med/surg they usually go to a transitional unit or SNF for rehab before going home.

There are levels of acuity for each type of unit and each unit has staffing according to those acuity levels (in a well run hospital).

Med/surg is good because you are exposed to many diagnoses and every nursing skill you can imagine. People come up from ER acutely ill and are treated pre and post operatively on the med/surg floor. People are not suddenly cured when they make the gurney ride from ER or PACU to the med/surg unit.

The variety is what I like about med/surg. I have been a med/surg nurse for 4 years now and I am here to stay.

I personally like teaching and in ICU they are usually sedated/intubated/too ill to speak.

ER is also good for variety and a crash course in skills but time is an issue. I personally like to have more time to fit in treatment and care plus education. BUT I have to add that I am in California and I do not have to take as many patients as nurses in other states. It is hard to do med/surg or any type of hospital nursing with a high number of patients.

It really depends on what you like and what kind of new grad programs you can find.

There is no wrong way to start your career. You can be a great nurse in any area. Starting in ICU, ER, cardiac surveillance, or med/surg does not mean you can't change to another area when you decide what is right for you.

Best of luck in your education.

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Like the others have said med-surg provides a variety of patient diagnosis. At the hospital I work for, I'm on a med-surg/telemetry unit. On our particular floor we have between 5-7 patients per nurse. We try to divide the assignments by the acquity of the patients. We have everything from congestive heart failure/heart caths, etc to something as mundane as the flu. I worked on the floor while in nursing school and have been there ever since. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I graduated with some people who started in ICU right out of school and they're doing great, but I wanted to be able to teach my patients and their families. We do lots of teaching on our floor regarding diagnosis, medications, treatments. It's wonderful!

Time management is a skill that you have to acquire on a med surg floor. While in school clinicals, look at what some of the nurses on the med surg floors do. You will have to find your own way of doing things, but don't be scared to ask for help.

Good luck with school. There is a light at the end.

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Med/surg teaches quick assessment, time management, treatment skills, meds, IV's, how to monitor tubes to the lungs, kidneys, liver, and other areas, irrigations, how to assign patient loads, and people skills. Med/surg is truly the only unit that may have peds, elderly, young adult and very sick to just monitoring after a procedure like a lap chole that was done too late to recover the 6 hours prior to discharge. I have spent most of my nursing career in med/surg. I know I can go to an ICU and do the more stable patient, and the not so stable one. I do not know much about a Swans, but I can assist with a central line placement, keep a bladder irriagation going, and keep my eye on changing vitals. Med/surg is a wonderful training ground and I am still a firm believer in getting med/surg experience before going to a unit.

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this is just my opinion---but-----med/surg is where you learn the "guts" of nursing , i think all nurses should do one year of med/surg before going into a specialty area....again just my opinion

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Oh my gosh, you guys are awesome, thank you for all of the responses! That gives me a much better picture than I had. Thank you for your time:). I think it's most likely where I would like to start....thanks again.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
Oh my gosh, you guys are awesome, thank you for all of the responses! That gives me a much better picture than I had. Thank you for your time:). I think it's most likely where I would like to start....thanks again.

If my patients were "supposed to be going home", they wouldn't be on my floor :devil: (Ok!!!! I admit!!!! Baring a "few" physicians, MOST of the patients would be going home.)

Point being?

Med-Surg isn't a 'convalescent home' {This isn't a "diss" on 'convalescent homes'. I worked a short while ago in one to know enough that the work you do there is something I can not do. Y'all truly are gifted in doing all that you do.} ..... - but we need free beds as much as any place else in a hospital [especially on my busy surgical floor].

I signed up on med-surg for a number of reasons:

1. I always wanted to work (and still to want to work) peds - but the peds section in my hospital is neither great nor hiring.

2. It's my personal belief that if, in the future, I ever considered "advancing" myself, I need general floor experience. This doesn't mean gen-surg floor nurses are dumb, disinterested, unmotivated or that "gen-surg is the easy stepping stone to other fields" --- on the contrary! My best teachers have been the ones who have 'stayed on' in med-surg despite very enticing and lucretive offers to move to different floors.

Gen-med-surg floor nursing is an art and science of it's own. But the skills it can (and the skills it WILL) teach you are invaluable.

As much as I "thought" I'd dread working a gen-surg floor... it has actually been pretty cool so far. I've managed to deal with everyone from serious cardiac issues to dementia to stab-wounds-with-chest-tubes. Besides your 'routine' knee/hip replacements, fxs, bowel obstructions, cancers, kidney/prostate/bladder troubles.....

... and others! ;)

Gen-Med-Surg exposes you to a wide variety of experiences.

As my Father (a man who I respect very much) taught me: "At the start of your career, what you LEARN is much more important than what you EARN".

cheers and good luck!

-Roy

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Gen-Med-Surg exposes you to a wide variety of experiences.

As my Father (a man who I respect very much) taught me: "At the start of your career, what you LEARN is much more important than what you EARN".

Oh, that's a good quote, I like that:)

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Hello, you dear young thing! You are so sweet and I pray that, wherever you work, you love it. I pray for you to get a great nursing education and I know your patients will be blessed to have you caring for and about them.

You will learn in school which area you want to work in first. You'll get to sample Medical and Surgical patients, Obstetric, Pediatric, Psychiatric, Geriatric, clinic, home health, community health, wounds, burns, old, young, etc. You will get a feel for what area you want to commit to. Then go for it.

I do not believe that it is necessary to have a year of Med-Surg as your first job. The skills you acquire there can be acquired elsewhere. Every part of your Nursing work will be a base upon which to build for your next step. If you work Peds, you might someday be a summer camp nurse. If you work Recovery Room, you might go to the OR someday. You might decide to go into supervision, management, administration, teaching, whatever. You can stick with one thing or you can try various specialties. Your basic nursing knowledge and skills, your desire to serve your fellow man, these go with you wherever you work.

Give it time. You will know what your interests are soon enough.:nurse: :) :saint: :nurse:

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HI! I was prepared to do a whole write-up, but then I read onarie's and gitterbug's and Roy's (and others) posts and I don't really think I need to! :)

I frequently tell people that starting off (and in my case, too, STAYING) in med-surg has proved to be highly educational and incredibly rewarding. School prepared me to start learning for real in med-surg! :)

In our hospital, we combine traditional med-surg with telemetry; we have a cardiac unit that is supposed to be JUST tely, and our unit JUST med-surg, but we frequently get patients that are on our floor only for tely. Actually, a bit of a frustration, since we REALLY need our tely monitors for post-ops with cardiac issues....but that's another story I guess.

I also frequently comment that I am irked when people suggest med-surg is something of a dumping ground "anyone" can work and that "specialties" are really other units. Being able to manage the workload of a busy med-surg unit puts one's nursing skills to the test, be sure: and the majority of our patients are VERY THANKFUL of our "specialty" skills ;)

Best of luck to you in your studies....we need interested, enthusiastic new nurses!

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Hello, you dear young thing! You are so sweet and I pray that, wherever you work, you love it. I pray for you to get a great nursing education and I know your patients will be blessed to have you caring for and about them.

You will learn in school which area you want to work in first. You'll get to sample Medical and Surgical patients, Obstetric, Pediatric, Psychiatric, Geriatric, clinic, home health, community health, wounds, burns, old, young, etc. You will get a feel for what area you want to commit to. Then go for it.

I do not believe that it is necessary to have a year of Med-Surg as your first job. The skills you acquire there can be acquired elsewhere. Every part of your Nursing work will be a base upon which to build for your next step. If you work Peds, you might someday be a summer camp nurse. If you work Recovery Room, you might go to the OR someday. You might decide to go into supervision, management, administration, teaching, whatever. You can stick with one thing or you can try various specialties. Your basic nursing knowledge and skills, your desire to serve your fellow man, these go with you wherever you work.

Give it time. You will know what your interests are soon enough.:nurse: :) :saint: :nurse:

Thank you, that was very kind and inspirational:)

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