i dislike med surg

Jm0136 · Jun 21, 2015

Omg. One to four? We can have up to six on day shift on my general medical floor. It's taking some getting used to, but yes you do hustle and bustle all day. When you finally get caught up with meds and documentation and assessments, someone pulls their iv out. Someone is in distress. You're getting an admit. It's an all day non stop steady pace. I really don't mind it, it actually makes the day go by really quick and I feel greatly challenged. I find it's very important to pay close attention to everything you do in med surg, it requires a lot of critical thinking AND multitasking. Out of all the areas I have worked in, med surg is by far the biggest challenge.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Jun 25, 2015

Patients weren't as sick back then. What you find on the med/surg floor now would have been full on ICU back then. Your stay after a delivery might last a week "back then". How much nursing care did a 7 day post delivery does a Mom need. It's all about perspective

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

2ndGenNurse · Jun 25, 2015

I hate med-surg as well. I knew it wasn't for me before nursing school!!! Don't second guess yourself, you know you better than anyone! I was a CNA and commonly had up to 15 patients and loved every moment of that job. When you have found your passion, work seems less like work and more like a challenging adventure! Don't fret. There are many areas in nursing. Working medsurg is not mandatory. Becoming a mental health nurse is my goal. Nursing is more than dealing with doctors and disgruntled patient families. You can and most likely will feel the rewards of helping people at sometimes what can be the most vulnerable period in their lives. That's the great thing about nursing it has multiple trajectories. School nurse, medical sales, nurse entrepreneur....study hard and get a good grasp of the basics. Once you have your degree, the sky is the limit. Oh and don't forget you can always leave the bedside and go into administration or education. Don't be discouraged because you don't like med-surg. We are all different with differening abilities and strengths. Go where you will be happy, don't follow the crowd. There is nothing like being miserable for 12 hours a day. Good luck!

Plutonium261 · Jun 25, 2015

The thing you have to remember also is that you JUST started nursing school. Being that, I'm assuming that you've only had clinicals at one hospital site so far. Correct? If so, it may also just be that your current, very limited, experiences you've had have not started out great. Give it some time, and give it a chance. My first few experiences, and first few different hospitals I did rotations at were great. I feel as though I sort of lucked out though. Some of my other classmates didn't have great first experiences at their sites and it too left bad first impressions on them about med-surg. However, since then most of them have done rotations at different hospitals and their experiences, and thus their outlook on med-surg, and the invaluable education gained, has since changed. I did not think I would like med-surg at all, but doing my rotations and seeing all that can be learned is more than I can speak of. And although it wouldn't be my first choice, if I am able to have a first choice once I graduate, I would take that position in a heart beat, and without reservation and/or without a negative thought, for the mere fact of gaining that experience, and then if need be down the line move into what I would want to ultimately do. With that being said, again, absolutely keep an open mind to first the learning experience, and second to the fact that one experience is way too general to write off med-surg in the general practice or terms as a whole.