What exactly is so bad about Med Surg?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I know it has something to do with the ratios, but other than that, what in the world is so horrible about it that makes new nurses say they would rather chew off their left foot than put in their time there?

And for those who like Med Surg, please chime in too.

med surg can be interesting and you can learn a lot esp if you are a new nurse or as mentioned above if you want to advance yourself

what ever decision you choose i am sure that you can contribute a great deal

Specializes in Onco, palliative care, PCU, HH, hospice.

I work on a Medical Tele floor, and most nights I love it. We get such a wide variety you never know what you're going to get. It is frustrating getting the same detox patients every few months who cuss, hit and even try to bite you every two seconds, Thank god for IV Ativan and IM Geodon lol What I really like about our floor is that we specialize in end of life care patients and I just absolutely love taking care of these patients.

In med-surg, even your interruptions get interrupted.

That's an excellent way to phrase it. I'll have to remember that. Chronic outpt dialysis is similar- contstant interuptions, and priorities changing every few seconds.

Specializes in Med-Surg/Pedi/ICU/Tele/Onc.

I don't think that there is a thing wrong with working and enjoying the med-surg floor!! I was an LVN for 5 years on a Surg-Pedi floor and after going back to school for RN thought that I "had" to do some kind of speciality. I felt that I wouldn't be a "real" RN if I didn't have ICU experience. Well, off I went to a Neuro-Trauma ICU...and 2 years later was more than ready to get back "home" to med-surg! I just personally don't need that kind of stress or adrenaline everyday that some specialties give! I want to go home and mainly forget the day...not be stressed out about the next. I really learned a lot in specialty, but that's not my choice to do full time, day in and out!

What I do think is sooooo important is that nurses think of Med-Surg as a specialty! Just like NICU or ICU, not everyone wants or can do Med-Surg. I'm lucky in my department that we really run the range of illness that comes in. We have tele, oncology and the whole Med-Surg run-down on complaints and illnesses. One day the flavor of the day is chest-pain while the next is pancreatitis. One day it's the young and the next the elderly. I especially enjoy the oncology patients and think that they are always (or eventually) the nicest people that get sick. They are espcially grateful it seems and I really seem to get to my "roots" of why I became a nurse with these types of patients and their families.

Back to Med-Surg...I've been certified RN-BC for about a year now because it is a specialty and don't let anyone ever tell you different!

I think it will vary widely, depending on the facility you work in. I work in a 25 bed hospital and we have very good nurse-patient ratios, usually 1-5. It also depends on your coworkers-for the most part I work with a bunch of great people who work hard and can prioritize their time so if one of us has a situation come up, everyone can pitch in and help. I have been in this hospital for 4 years and have learned so much. I love that every shift I can take a patient with a different primary Dx.

Jessica

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho/Neuro.
That is one of the big issues for me.

Everything that doesn't fit in a neat category goes there. Often the really bad decubs, dementia, ETOH withdrawal, psych (now that few places have an inpatient psych unit).

It is relatively easy for me to empathise with a new dx cancer/hematology patient. It is so much harder to deal with the bounce-back pancreatitis, ETOH/substance abuser screaming bloody murder in the middle of the hall because the MD refuses to order huge doses of sedatives/pain meds. The same one that you detox at least 1-2 per month, and keeps saying that they will change.

I have to agree with that. I work midnights in a med-surg unit and we are staffed 7-1. It's literally killing me. Add a few pts with pain med every 2-3 hrs, a few dressing changes, non-existent PCA's that are "too busy".....couple of discharges, a couple of admissions, and a clinical manager who bashes you over trivial things. The only saving grace is that the nurses I work with are fabulous. I am told we are lucky we don't have 8-10 pts. Right now we have them in the hallway, and doubled-up on stretchers. Our hospital received Magnet designation this year (if they could see us now). And we are not an inner city hospital.

Specializes in med-surg.

I really don't mind med-surg. It has helped me with my skills. What I destest about it is the staffing... I have 8-9 pts and three will be new surgeries. And as the charge nurse I am getting yelled at b/c I am not assigning more pts to nurses and giving the techs a break!!! I work 7p-7a and sometimes don't get to all my pts until 2200!:angryfire

+ Add a Comment