Great Expectations?!

[SarahCeleste]

I am a student about to start the second semester of my LVN at a community college in Texas. I love the program and the instructors are extremely helpful and I regard their opinions in the highest, but I would like to have other nurse's opinions on this matter as well. Everyone tells me it is highly recommended to do Med/Surg at least one full year after graduation to gain more experience and capability in other areas. I feel like this is a good decision, but am not sure if that is what I really want to do. I am planning on furthering my education to BSN and maybe someday, God willing, Nurse Practitioner and would like to continue my schooling as quickly as feasible with my concurrent nursing career as an LVN. My question to you all is this: is it a good idea to do Med/Surg prior to specialization? What are your thoughts on this and what route did you take? I know this this is a quite frequent question, but my time is closing in on graduation (MAY 2004! YAY!!!) and would I like a tad more input on it than what I am getting locally. Thanks and God Bless!

[BarbPick]

Th reasons why your instructors tell you to do med surg is they feel you need to learn how to be a NURSE first. That means learn how to take care of sick people. You have to learn how to organize your time. Something else that is important to recognize, you might not have as much choice as an LVN that you will have as an RN. Take your goals one step at a time, it will pay off.

Barbara

[Sarah Kat]

Check out this thread.

[jschut, BSN, RN]

Hmmm....I have only worked in LTC since I have been a nurse. I am going back to school soon to further my education, and I feel comfortable there.

But I would like to work in Med/Surg after I graduate, so I can learn even more! It takes alot to learn no matter where you are placed~ whether it is in Med/Surg for a year or two, or anywhere.

As far as the cardiziem drip on the other thread, that should be something already known....not something one just does and forgets about. I routinely look up different drugs and interactions that I don't know about...and more than once, I have found where a drug should be given before meals or not given with another drug.....

It's all a matter of learning....

[jemb]

One seldom mentioned advantage of working med-surg for awhile before specializing is the exposure to other possibilities. You might just find a field of nursing that you never considered by seeing what dealing with certain types of patients involves. You might find that you prefer cardiac, oncology, ortho, nephrology, or any of the other medical conditions in which you could specialize. You might find that you enjoy caring for post-op patients, and would like PACU. You might find that you have weaknesses in some areas, but are the absolute best in another area of nursing.

Point is that you have the opportunity to see what is likely to work for you in the long run before you invest all your time and money in something that you may not ultimately like.

[bellehill, RN]

After spending the last 2 years on some type of med-surg floor I can honestly say I love med-surg (something I never thought I would say). You can have 7 patients all with a different dx and oh my, all the meds you will learn. I know people who went straight to ICU/ED out of school and did very well, I wouldn't trade my med-surg experience for anything.

Eventually I would like to work in the ICU, until then I know I can handle cardiac, COPD, DM, surgical, renal, oncology, neuro..........pts all at the same time as the little old lady who has no where else to go. Like I said, I love med-surg.