Hello. I have 6 mos. peds. experience and 5 months in general med surg- combined gives me almost ONE YEAR of RN experience. I HATE... I mean HATE the Med Surg bedside nursing job I have now. I TRIED to get into ICU, Cardiac, or the ER out of school. I disliked Med Surg in school and hoped to never work there. These areas are a better fit for me. However, that was the only job I could get basically as a new RN. I have already gotten written up, counseled, etc. and a few pats. have complained about me (over silly things I must say... nothing major-- like I told one pat. I'd be back to help them in 15 minutes as I had a pat. down the hall getting ready to CODE-- well the pat. got peeved because they DID NOT LIKE being told they had to wait (their problem was NOT serious, and I had to stablize a pat. who was getting ready to code). Well that pat. called my boss and complained. The boss came to me about it. Another-- I have family members who got upset because I do not get in the room fast enough to set up their family member who had slumped over in bed (ok... like they cannot sit them up??? come on.....) and I have pats. who curse and throw cups and supplies out of rooms, who void on the floors, who call and ask for take-out menus because they do not like the hospital food, etc. IT IS TERRIBLE. Just awful. :pntlft:I really want to get out of there before the final ax falls. I dont't want to get fired and feel I am headed that way!
How does one GET OUT of the general med surg unit and get into ICU, etc. ?? I am trying to transfer, but so far nothing has developed.
having complaints/write ups won't help you move out to another area of that hospital, but....
for me, I got off a floor and to the ER by taking an ACLS course, meeting the ER manager, getting the name of the ER director and calling/emailing him for a meeting. I sold to him the idea that I would make a great ER nurse and to give me a chance. It worked. Get prepared ahead of time and go for it, but try to stay out of trouble ahead of that time.
Thank you everyone for your comments. And I don't mean to come across snippy. I'm sorry if I did. I personally know what I am great at and what I am not. Yes. I can do this. Do I like it, NO. I would be better off in an admin. position or critical care position where I can make judgement calls and use more of my brain and less of my hands. No offense, just speaking the truth here. And from my previous background, I came from positions where I ran departments and was the manager of divisions.... so I have a very matter-of-fact "here it is" attitiude. That is hard when you are a nurse and dealing with the general public. And really, the bottom line is too, we are not held in the highest esteem by the pats. and their families. There is no respect (at least not in this unit). I also want to use more of my medical/ nursing background and less of... where is my coffee? where are my crackers?? can you pull my sheets up?? What about the medical side? Why are K levels up? Why are we hanging D5W?? WHY is her BP up?? THAT is the nursing I want.... not 'can you bring me more towels'.... Yup... guess I am venting now... sorry.... oh boy... I should have gone to med school... I think it would have fit my brain and my perspective better....ugh. Thanks again very much.
oh god, then don't go to the ER. All I ever do is offer, or rather am ambushed by patients/visitors, to bring coffee, tea, ginger ale, crackers, jello, etc... Nevermind you have actual patient care to perform.
I often feel that I should become a stewardess, at least I'd have a happy destination at the end of all that schlepping!
I do not know why people have to exaggerate the circumstances to prove their point. 10 patients? What? Really....
Some nurses really do have 10 patients on nights at some hospitals. It's not necessarily an exaggeration. And I must have missed where the OP said she is too smart and above working med/surg.
To the OP, I know exactly what mean about wanting to use your brain more instead of frequently feeling like a handmaid. You might be happier in an ICU setting. You get to use your critical thinking skills much more and you feel challenged, but it's hard work and you are expected to know much more. You do get some of the needy patients and families but you only have 1 or 2 of them. As far as getting out of your current med/surg job... start applying. It might be a turn off to some employers that you are applying for a third position in one year, but you never know unless you try. There are some people who have done it.
Thanks again everyone for all the great advice and I think RN4WeeOnes said it best. RN4WeeOnes nailed it. We are getting surveys all the time about custmer service. On this unit, that's all it seems to be about, and if the pat. so much as peeps, we get called (I got called out not long ago because a pat. wanted a cheeseburger and fries and I did not give them that because they were on a clear liq. diet.... well I got called out because that pat. fussed). See. Ridiculous. I feel I am not using any real critical nursing skills. I want to use my critical RN skills. It's more about 'pleasing customers,' which is important, but this is not the Holiday Inn with room service. It's a medical facility. The boss needs to realize that, the nurses on the unit need to realize that and so do the pats. and the families. Med Surg is an important component of nursing, and my hat is off to those who do it. However, it does not fit me. I am more of a critical thinker and that is why I am looking to transfer (the jest of the whole post). It's not that I am above or below anything- fact- I just don't fit there. That's it. AND.... The boss should have never even come to me when I had to make a decision between a code and someone else with non critical issue. She never should have even come to me over that... but wait... oh yeah... customer service as RN4WeeOnes pointed out.
Oh... and I was only written up once and I met with the boss last week and she said I was making great improvement, but I'd like to leave if at all possible because I feel I am on pins and needles there just waiting for the ax to fall when someone else complains again.... I had someone requesting a sub from the shop down the road last night and asking for take-out menus.... I did not have any menus on my person, and I did not call the sub shop.... I'll probably get called out again when I return.....insane! Good night all!!
Epona, you don't happen to work at a certain north shore community hospital in Massachusetts by any chance, do you? I lasted four months on a very similar floor with identical situations, and then I took my license and went running to peds and never looked back. I just want you to know that not all places are like that. My very first RN job was a med-surg/peds position in an 86 bed community hospital. If it wasn't for major highway construction that increased my commute to over 2 hours each way, I probably never would have left. Were we overworked and understaffed at times? Yes. Did I leave frustrated at times? Yes. However, at the end of the day I knew my coworkers had my back and I had theirs, and we had a blast. I honestly looked forward to going to work every day. The same can be said for my current position in peds. You will find something you love. It took me 4 jobs to find my niche, and I've only been a nurse for a bit over 2 years. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, the worst they can say is no.
but regardless of which unit you go for, you have to win over your co-workers and manager for a good reference and a solid year of med/surg looks better when it's a transfer and not a new grad position. Good luck
I am sorry as a med-surg nurse I have to speak up at this point...
Why are you not using your critical thinking skills? These patients did not come in for a weekend holiday. They more than likely came from the ED, ICU, Tele and they are now at the mercy of your observation and critical thinking skills. In the past two weeks I have had one patient have a stroke and multiple have MIs. I don't have a monitor to be able to tell me the patients rhythm changed, that there is ST evevation, or that there BP is getting dangerously high. I have to pay close attention to the patients, what they are saying and look for slight changes in behavior/ assessments to be able to determine when additional interventions are warranted. I agree med/surg may not be glamorous, we may not have our own TV shows and patients that want crackers and ginger ale? Yeah we have them, but med/surg is an incredible place to utilize all of your nursing knowledge and assessment skills without relying on a machine. Not that ICU/ED nurses don't do this as well, but imo your are overlooking the benefits of working med-surg. I strongly encourage you to re-examine your desire to be a nurse if providing patient care whether it be performing a code or getting crackers is not what you want to do. Maybe medicine would be a better fit.
No. Do not work in Mass.! Ha! And I am glad Louis you have used your critical thinking skills. I have done nothing of the sort and have done nothing that you have been lucky enough to experience. In close to 6 months, the only critical thing I have done (if you want to call it critical) is monitor BP and decide if the pat. should get their BP meds. (pretty routine)....and I had the almost code where I had to watch sats and BP on the monitor. And that's about IT. Doing the code was the best exp. I have had so far. It was nuts, fast, and energizing and I LIKED it. I got to use some real thinking skills too. But that is pretty much it. As far as co-workers having your back, on my unit they don't. There is not much camaraderie at all amoungst the staff....
You do have the opportunity to use your critical thinking skills every day. Do you not assess your patients? Do you not administer meds, sometimes holding some, or calling for a more appropriate dose or med on others based on your assessments? Do you not check your patients' labs, and make sure their treatments are appropriate to their clinical picture? When you get your patient up to the bathroom, are you not evaluating their skin, monitoring their gait and their mobility, thinking about their post-discharge needs and if you need to initiate a social work consult for some home resources, or contact the physician for an order for PT? When you are giving meds, are you not naming each one and its action to your patient, discussing any new meds and how to take them in the home environment; assessing their education needs in regards to their medications and home needs? That's using your critical thinking skills.
If you are only passing pills and taking VS unthinkingly, it is a personal issue, independent of your environment.
I suspect you have time management issues, are overly task oriented, and do not see the forest for the trees (these are issues to some degree with EVERY new nurse; it's part of learning and growing into your role). I also suspect you are using more critical thinking skills that you realize. Critical thinking does not mean "actions in a critical situation". It means actively thinking about your patients' clinical pictures, pulling all info from a variety of sources (including your own assessments!!!) together and guiding their care appropriately. It happens routinely in the absence of an adrenaline rush. With good nurses, it happens in every environment, virtually every moment of the day.
OP, I must commend you on your most excellent use of the smilies icons, BTW.
And yes, to that questioning fact poster, in my area 8+ is more and more common, and this is days. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. In fact try that with mostly ETOH tele pts. (thank God someone else took that job).
To all you goody two shoes, you don't know "how it is" where the OP works -- If you don't feel the way she does, at your job, then fabulous for you.
Try to be supportive, and if someone needs to vent, just let them vent. Your day probably has or will soon come.
I feel your pain. I too work in Med Surg and while I enjoy nursing, I hate the "Have it your way" Burger King mentality. Good luck. Just keep your options open. I don't know how you feel about dialysis but some companies offer training.
I have 6 mos. peds. experience and 5 months in general med surg- combined gives me almost ONE YEAR of RN experience. I HATE... I mean HATE the Med Surg bedside nursing job I have now. 
I TRIED to get into ICU, Cardiac, or the ER out of school. I disliked Med Surg in school and hoped to never work there. These areas are a better fit for me. However, that was the 
I dont't want to get fired and feel I am headed that way! 
diligent-trooper
178 Posts
I do not know why people have to exaggerate the circumstances to prove their point. 10 patients? What? Really....