How you got to where you are now

I think starting out in med/surg is really up to you. We all know there was a time when the med/surg floor was where everyone started out for a year or two, then started looking around at where they wanted to specialize. I think that's less necessary.

On my graduation from nursing school, I knew I wanted anesthesia, so I immediately went to work in the SICU. I'm not at all sure that going to med/surg would have helped me at all. The time management skills, the assessment skills and the general routine between the two units is so different, that had I gone to a med/surg floor first I would have simply had to start over on transferring to the unit.

My personal belief is that if you are not sure what you want to do, then start in med/surg. If however, a particular specialty really appeals to you, then look into going straight into that specialty.

Kevin McHugh

After nursing school I knew where I wanted to work....The OR. I was a surgical tech while going to nursing school and just stayed there after grad. I never worked med/surg. Didn't think I needed to. And after 13 years as a nurse I am now working in a PACU. Also did correctional nursing for 3 years. Liked that too!

There's no reason to start out in med-surg if you know you don't like it. Start out in a unit that you're interested in, or that you enjoyed in clinicals, or you think you will be strong in and go from there.

I've been in med-surg most of my nursing life, that includes a variety of med-surg areas to include neuro, trauma, medical-telemetry, surgical so I'm happy with it so far. A good deal of that I've been a charge nurse, so I'm not burned out on med-surg yet. Recently I've gone back to floor nursing and on day shift, so we'll see how long until the burnout happens. LOL

So if you're undecided there is some variety even in med-surg that you can get into. I recommend med-surg for those who know they won't mind it, or if they are completely undecided.