Hello - I have a question re: med/surg. Below are my question and background info as to why I'm posing it.
MY QUESTION: Do you think I will burn out quickly in the med/surg environment?
BACKGROUND: I am planning on doing a year of med/surg when I graduate from nursing school (RN), to get a good foundation of nursing skills and familiarize myself with the care of a variety of diseases.
I have a Master's of Public Health degree, and am interested in becoming an oncology nurse or Clinical Research Coordinator, or working on public health programs.
I plan to work in California (for family reasons), where I hear they have saner nurse-patient ratios.
I have no hubby or kids or other dependents to restrict my career decisions or movements. If I hate the bedside, I feel I can fall back on my prior graduate degree. I prize my autonomy and have a low tolerance for BS.
I DO want to try med/surg; BUT...
I have huge fears and doubts about my ability to tolerate it, since I suspect the following: that ratios are too high, patient acuity has increased, documentation requirements are becoming silly, pts and families are growing more demanding, hospitals tout themselves much like hotels, seasoned nurses are in short supply to serve as mentors, workplace collegiality may also be in short supply, and mandatory overtime and scheduling woes have made med/surg nursing (indeed perhaps all of nursing) less tolerable in general.
Despite that, I would like to try med/surg. I cannot, however, mentally separate my "desire to try" from my pessimism about the field of bedside nursing. I guess I'm hopeful and pessimistic at the same time, one could say. I do know that I don't want to be miserable for a year.
