Is med-surg really the best place to start as a new grad?

[Valerie916]

I will be a new graduate RN in a couple weeks and am interested in experienced nurses advice on where to start..? I have been told by many instructors that med-surg is the best place to start and I have enjoyed my clinicals on the floor, but I'm more interested in other areas. I appreciate your thoughts and time!

[nursein08]

I was told the same thing prior to graduating, but I knew that I would hate med/surg. That was where most of my clinicals in school were done and I was bored out of my mind. I knew that ER was where I wanted to be and that's where I went directly out of school. Do I regret not getting that 1 yr of med/surg? Not at all! If you know the specialty you want to go into and are prepared to work hard, then I say forget wasting a year on something you may not like anyway. I honestly do not think doing a year in med/surg would have helped me anymore than going directly to ER. Going directly into your specialty of choice means not having to unlearn anything.

Good luck to you! :cheers:

[rn4ever?]

In my experience and opinion, no. If you work a year in med-surg and for the next 20 years you work let's say as a Dialysis RN, will you remember everything in that one year you worked in med-surg? I'll say go for what your heart desires. Whatever nursing field you get into, you'll learn something special and valuable.

[aura_of_laura]

Went into pediatric psych right out of school, haven't regretted it, and haven't found it to hinder my marketability! If you don't know where you want to specialize, med-surg is probably good, but you certainly don't have to work med-surg to be a good nurse with a satisfying career.

[laynaER]

I think it all depends on who you ask. Like some of the others said, most people are just regurgitating what others have told them. I have spoke to other nurses who say a specialized unit is better for a new grad because the patient population is more homogenous and you'll be seeing the same thing everyday so it's easier to recognize a problem. If you're on a med surg unit you'll be seeing people with all sorts of disorders and it's difficult to get down to what the patient really needs because you simply don't know.

[tlburnsrnbsn]

The wonderful thing about being a nurse is that there are so many fields of practice you can make a career. I have been a nurse for 14 years. When I graduated in 1996 there was a shortage of nursing jobs in my area. I could not get a job in med-surg. So I took what I could get. I started in a Community Health Center. Then cardiology, then as a civilian FP nurse in the Air Force, then in surgical/trauma in the city hospital, then as a clinical reviewer for a large health insurance company contractor. Now I am starting my own consulting business for medical offices. Nursing is one of the only professions that it pays to have worked in many different jobs.

I have to say that if I had had the ability to work med-surg as a new grad, I would have done that. But when I went to work in surgical/trauma after being in nursing for awhile, it was the hardest job I have ever had. But I learned so much that it was worth it and it gave me confidence. Some nurses hate med-surg. That is ok. My advice is to do what you love. Follow your passion. And that may mean that med-surg is not the best path for you. If you are not sure what specialty you want to build a career in, I would recommend med-surg to start.

Good luck to you!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

There are nurses out there who firmly believe in Med-surg as the first place to work as a new nurse, and others who feel that it is just fine to enter a specialty field.

And there are those of us that realize med-surg IS a specialty.

Go where you want. My med-surg experience doesn't mean I know anything about birthing babies. ICU nurses can't prioritize 7 patients as well as I can, and I can't do as good of an in-depth assessment as they can.

Med-surg IS a specialty. It's not where you stay just because you aren't smart enough to handle a "real" specialty. And for the record, all the ICU nurses that get annoyed orienting people that are only in it to get their mandatory ICU time before CRNA school, THAT is how annoying it is to orient people that are only the until they can go where they actually want to go.

[RedCell]

and for the record, all the icu nurses that get annoyed orienting people that are only in it to get their mandatory icu time before crna school, that is how annoying it is to orient people that are only the until they can go where they actually want to go.

i do not really see how this factors in to the equation of whether or not someone should choose med/surg for their first job. however, i think orientating new nurses is a good thing regardless of what deck you work on. i precepted numerous new graduates while working in the er and open heart recovery unit and always enjoyed it because they kept me on my toes asking questions i normally did not spend much time thinking about. yes, some of the new grads in ohr were there to gain experience for crna or acute np school. that was fine with me as i do not feel you should be bitter or angry towards individuals who have different goals than you. in fact, the nurse manager on that unit was extremely supportive of her staff and actually encouraged me to apply to advance practice school.