Is Med/Surg attracting new grads?

Specialties Med-Surg

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Hello All,

I am about to start my clinical consolidation with a preceptor on a med/surg floor. This is my main interest in nursing and why I chose to do my entire consolidation there. My fellow students , however seem to be more interested in the specialty areas mostly PICU, Emerg, Psych and ICU. My question is do staff nurses see their med/surg floor getting and keeping their share of new grads or are they looking for a different type of employment?

Thanks

Mito

Actually one of the hospitals I'm considering has like a 6 mo. ICU orientation program, they start new grads on stepdown/telemetry first. I don't see how doing med/surg will help me in ICU.

The only place I have ever ever ever ever ever ever (you get the point) wanted to work is in the emergency dept. In my area though they do not offer ED externships (except for 1 hosp that requires a BSN program). Since the ICU extern. were full, I choose Telemetry. I dislike Med-Surg also only b/c of the patient #s, visitors,etc. But Tele is great b/c it uses most of the gtts that are in ICU/ED settings, has a pretty high accuity level (Renal failure,a-fib, post MIs, a lot of possible codes). Trust me, I'm not excited about being "away from the action" of critical care, but I am excited about being able to reinforce/learn a great deal of basic skills along with working with all of the things I mentioned above. Only bad thing....I'm not sure how to break it to the manager at the end of the summer that I don't want to work there after graduation! Oh and can she give me a recomendation to the eD??? :rotfl:

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I know this is an old thread but I did a search to see if any of my questions were answered. It did answer a lot of my questions but I still have some more.

I plan on starting out med/surg and getting my bsn part time after I finish nursing school. I want to work either in ED or in the OR (that is how I feel now anyways).

I read on this thread that someone started working in med/surg as a stepping stone and they got "stuck" in it for 15 years! What do I need to do to make sure I don't get stuck in med/surg?

It will take me 2 1/2 years to get my BSN so that is how long I want to work in med/surg.

Is it stupid to get certified in Med/surg if I plan to work in a different specialty? I figure if I know it I might as well have a paper that says I know it. Can you have certifications in different specialties? Like med/surg and OR.

Is it advisable to let your boss know that you are just using med/surg as a stepping stone in the beginning? Or will that make them mad? When you decide to leave for a different specialty what are the procedures for that and how do you inform your boss?

I'm not trying to "diss" med/surg, and who knows I may end up loving it once I start it. Thanks in advance for your advice.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

Many folks will say, Med Surg is a great stepping stone....I am one of them. Many will say that this is not necessary and just go into your specialty after school....Med Surg not even necessary. Med Surg will give you much to learn...especially learning and improving on your organizational skills. In Med Surg, you will see and work with everything....not so typically when you become more specialized. Also, no....you do not need to be certified in Med Surg, especially if you plan to leave it anyway. I would suggest saving yourself the worry, the time, and the expense for the area that you truly wish to specialize in. Wish you the best!

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, LTC.

I am working med/surg now and like it more than I thought I would. I am one that usually likes predicability and routines. However, its such a relief knowing that the difficult patients/families will only be there a few days/weeks max unlike in LTC where you can have them for years, even DECADES! :eek: So med/surg does have its benefits!!!

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Specializes in ACNP-BC.

I've been an RN for 7 months now & have been working on a med/surg/tele unit since July 2005. I love where I work. I usually get 8 or 9 patients and share with with an LPN, so it's not too bad. We get all types of patients-cardiac CP, abdominal pain, syncope, COPD exacerbation, GI surgery pts, alcohol withdrawal patients, change in mental status pts, anemia, GI bleeding, new onset diabetes, CVA patients, intestinal obstruction, cancer pts who need tele, renal failure, failure to thrive, and also a lot of gyn surgery pts-like hyperemesis gravidarum, lady partsl or TAH, BSOs, miscarriages, you name it I've seen it! I feel like it's a real plus to have so many different types of patients-I've had pts. from age 16 through 100, and have seen so many different diagnoses in every single body system, and most with multiple issues. It can be very stressful but I am so happy I can juggle multiple pts with multiple issues and do everything I need to get done in a typical 3-11 PM shift. I feel like i''m learning a lot and feel comfortable accepting almost any type of patient assignment. I'm going to be starting NP school this summer (will be in the program for 3 years) so I feel like i'm getting great experience while studying to be an NP. So I really like med surg a lot.

-Christine

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Actually one of the hospitals I'm considering has like a 6 mo. ICU orientation program, they start new grads on stepdown/telemetry first. I don't see how doing med/surg will help me in ICU. Med/surg is a distinct speciality and it is totally different from an ICU environment-- managing about 8 patients instead of knowing absolutely everything about one or two patients. Rn_n_02, if your ultimate goal is to do ICU or another speciality, make sure you don't get "stuck" in med/surg. With the huge shortage of med/surg nurses, the hospital may be reluctant to transfer you to an ICU. Good luck and congrats on your new job!

BTW, I don't really know of anyone in my program who plans on doing med/surg. It seems like everyone wants to do ICU, peds, or OB.

I really disagree that doing med/surg won't help you in ICU. In med surg you get to hone your organization skills and learn to THINK like a nurse should. In ICU, you need to have these skills very firmly under your belt, as these patients are so critically ill and, not to be melodramatic, on the brink of life and death. I am a new grad from summer of '06, and I am working in med-surg and about to go into cardiac step-down this summer. I have had fellow new grads go into ICU and a few of them have come out and transferred in to med-surg because ICU was just too much for them. They were part of the ICU 6-month new grad internship that we have at our hospital, as well. I'm not saying that this will happen to you, too, but I'm saying don't discount the learning experience new grads can get from working med-surg. It really is invaluable. Now that I'm a nurse and not just a student/CNA, I see that more clearly now than ever.

PS- I also want to work ICU eventually.

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After being a nurse in the NICU for a year- I can honestly now say I wish I had gotten a year of med/surg nursing. Why? Because I am now interested in other areas of nursing and feel like I will have to start all over again. Many of my nursing classmates are now getting offered great opportunities because of their med/surg experience. My only nursing experince has been in the NICU-when I go to apply to plastic surgeons offices they quickly suggest I go back to a med/surg floor. So I am now looking to see if I can even get a job on a med/surg floor because I don't even think I qualify as a new grad anymore. Anyways when ever I have students come on our unit and ask me for advice about med/surg vs. going straight to the NICU- I tell them if the NICU is the ONLY place you will EVER want to work then go for it. If you are not sure what kind of nursing you want to do (which was the case for me)then go to a med/surg floor and get those skills down because they will be so valued.

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