i dislike med surg

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2015

my instructors remembered back in the day when they had 10 15 pts. how's that possible???[/quote']
To put it in perspective, patients that are seen in Home Care or Outpatient settings today would have been the patients we saw in Med Surg back in the day (talking mid 70s to 80s here).
The people on Med Surg today would have been in ICU. Or the Morgue.
In other words, Med Surg patients just weren't generally as sick back then as they are now. I remember a lady who spent an entire Summer in the hospital for back pain and cervical traction.
God, I feel old lol.

sissiesmama, ASN, RN · Jun 15, 2015

my instructors remembered back in the day when they had 10, 15 pts. how's that possible???

Hi - my hubby and I are "old nurses" - I graduated from nursing school in 91, and he finished 5 or 6 yrs before me. I worked med-surg when I graduated; that was pretty much a given (I wanted to work either ER/Trauma or L and D but you had to get at least a year of MS first)

Anyway, it was a routine shift to be assigned 10 patients each. The max I can remember having was 13 - and that was a nightmare!

Good luck to you!

Anne, RNC

ScrappytheCoco · Jun 15, 2015

I work in the all coveted L&D and ER and guess what I spend much of my day doing? Calling MDs and diffusing demanding families.

Nursynursenurse, ADN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

I have a very negative reaction to med-surg in nursing school and at my last hospital job. The nurses there were the most stressed and miserable group of people I've ever seen. They always seem like they are moments away from a complete mental breakdown. The nurses who work in every other dept seem like they are under control and like their jobs. I will never work med-surg out of my own free will.

AspiringNurseMW · Jun 16, 2015

Idk. I think your expectations play alot into it too. I'm starting nursing school in the fall and I expect med surge to be difficult, and right now it's not my dream job, but I refuse to expect to hate it.

If I go into it expecting to learn as much as I can, I figure I'll have less time to dwell on any unpleasant aspects.

dcwang · Jun 16, 2015

They say you learn a lot on med surg floor and yes it's true. Many pts on the floor are diabetic with multiple chronic conditions. On my first day, I helped change a dressing

Lâ™¡vER · Jun 16, 2015

In a previous job, I used to float to m/s and I really liked it =)

Also, here it is more usual to have an 8:1 ratio on m/s floors, just a fyi.

sissiesmama, ASN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

I work in the all coveted L&D and ER and guess what I spend much of my day doing? Calling MDs and diffusing demanding families.

I was SO happy to get into the ER - I was a little surprised when we started having SO many "hold" patients in the ER waiting on either a med-surg bed or ICU. Can't escape those med-surg family members staying with the ER hold pts!

Anne, RNC

dcwang · Jun 16, 2015

I noticed that Some med surg nurses I talked to hate OR and some OR nurses hate med surg.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

finding a job these days in CA as a new grad is very very hard that i'd take any job offered when i graduate.
eventually for me, lifestyle/pay/job satisfaction will be hte most important for me. does anyone have any experience about NPs in pain management? i've volunteered at a pain management clinic, and sometimes the MDs would get off very early in the afternoon.

I hear you. However, if you communicate an attitude that says, or even resembles, "I'm most interested in time off, getting out early in the afternoon, lifestyle, pay, and job satisfaction," you will not be an attractive candidate for hire. Communicating that your choice of advanced practice course of study is aimed at landing a job based on its time off opportunities is also not going to make a positive impression on admissions.

There's another whole discussion here with a strong thread of contrast between two very different attitudes towards professional behavior-- hard work, seeking out learning opportunities, being a good team member, knowing how little you know early on VS. maximizing personal needs gratification outside of the profession. Think very, very hard about where you want to be, and then how to get there when you decide what's most important.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

Just to offer some food for thought, I remember feeling so unsure of myself as a student during my med-surg rotation. Everyone was so sick.....there were SO many tubes and wires and drains running all over the place, I had to be so careful to not trip over some of the patients' various medical "stuff" that cluttered up the rooms. I knew I wouldn't want to work that unit, ever.

And then I graduated. And I realized that of the options open to me, med-surg was offering me the best chance for learning and advancement. So....ok....WTH, I'll give it a shot!

I loved it. I didn't love the staffing much of the time, or the demanding families, but I DID love the work itself: lots of variety, interesting ailments and issues. I got to become familiar with so many diseases and disorders that I might have never had exposure to (no pun intended!) in another unit.

I became good at things that classmates of mine who went to work in other areas never got to see, let alone become proficient in. A strong pre-op/post-op floor, I got INTO stuff :)

Anyway, just thought I'd say there are those of us out there who, like you, did not want to do med-surg because.....(fill in the blank). But it really WAS a great experience (minus the understaffing, which was everywhere anyway!).

Keep an open mind, keep your options open, and....who knows? :)

KStudentNurse70 · Jun 16, 2015

I just finished my med surg rotation and loved it!! I learned so much and met some really amazing people, I loved hearing my patients stories and really learned to connect with my patients.

I know what you mean though, my last day of med surg was awful :/ I had an elderly patient who had dementia, and he was very difficult to care for on top of not being so nice and his family warned me that he would try and sexually assault me while bathing him. That day made me question if I really wanted to be a nurse, point being I overcame the bad day and looked at the positives, I sucked it up and gave him the best care I could. (And this could happen on any floor)

There won't always be good days, but you Learn a lot on med surg, I think it's a great starting point for new grads. But by no means should you do something you do not enjoy. Good luck :) and by the way I think pacu would be amazing !!