Is it wrong to stay in med-surg?

[Reds5588]

So, I have been an RN, BSN for 5 years.  I did one year at a subacute rehab before transferring to a med-surg floor in the same health system.  I really loved my floor, it was a small inter-City hospital that was kind of rough but I really enjoyed it and bonded well with all my coworkers under rough conditions.  
Recently, we had to relocate to a new state, where my husband is originally from(husband is finishing NP school and has several job opportunities in his hometown, plus we have more family to help with our kids).

I got a new job on a med-surg floor at a much larger, magnet/teaching hospital.  Very similar work and patients, but a lot more support staff which makes the job much easier.
The one thing that I’m feeling is this huge emphasis on getting out of med-surg as quick as  possible.  It’s like a revolving door of new grads and everyone acts like med-surg is the scum of the hospital and they cannot wait to move to a specialty.  There is also this huge divide of days vs nights. Everyone acts like night shift doesn’t do anything.  That division always existed on my other jobs, but it’s really intense here.

overall, I enjoy med-surg.  I like the large variety of patients I see.  I’ve been married to an ICU/ER nurse for years and I really admire him and enjoy all his life or death stories, but it’s just not an area for me.  I have had plenty of codes, crazy patients, rapid responses, exciting stories etc... but it’s not something I want every shift or even every week.  I just hate feeling like I’m being seen as less of a nurse.  There are only a handful of senior nurses that work on my very large floor. They suggested I sit for my CMSRN.

Any long time med-surg nurses out there?!?

[StrwbryblndRN]

 Don't fix what is not broken.   Go for your CMSRN.  Expand on what you love. 

 I worked medsurg for over 10 years.  Loved it.   I left for a change of pace but miss being busy.     If I did not have family I would do travel med-surg.        

[Reds5588, BSN]

Thank you everyone for the good advice and words of wisdom.  You’ve confirmed my beliefs that I am where I belong.  The only reason I was contemplating even leaving because I didn’t want to be “selling myself short” or missing learning opportunities.  However, I now better understand why that line of thinking was not correct.

[turtlesRcool]

I'm in the float pool.  I go to all the med-surg units, acute rehab, outpatient infusion, and PCU.  I've run my own little observation unit in the ED when the hospital's census was so high there were no beds in the hospital for them.  I've gone to ICU and maternity as a helper.  Basically, I'll go anywhere.

I don't think any unit is harder or easier than another. What I've found is that every unit has its own brand of hard.  Every unit has its own brand of crazy.  Some nurses are better suited to the stresses of one type of patient, and other nurses are better suited to the stresses that go along with taking care of another kind of patient.  Different units, and even different shifts on the same unit, have different rhythms.   

Also, different med-surg units are different from each other.  Taking care of fresh hips and knees on ortho is different from taking debilitated stroke patients on neuro, and different from taking care of STEMIs on telemetry, and different from administering chemo on oncology, and different from helping people detox on general medicine floors.  A nurse who is excellent at any one of those med-surg units is an excellent nurse.  Full stop. 

One day I was chatting with a critical care nurse who had floated to med-surg. She said it was good to get out on the regular floors sometimes because it forced her to only use her eyes and ears rather than monitors to assess a patient.  The "lower" the typical acuity of the patient, the more the nurse needs to rely on him- or herself to catch emerging problems.

I'm glad you're enjoying being a med-surg nurse.  Keep working to be the best med-surg nurse you can be.  Given the stereotype that med-surg is the training place for new grads, your floor needs experienced nurses like you.  My guess is that you are an extremely valuable resource, even if there's no "official" recognition of that.

[michaelb, BSN, RN]

love what you love! the mentallity is changing and we are the ones changing it, specialists are everywhere! 

[ChristmasNurse]

Oh my goodness, stay where you are if you love what you are doing. I work in the schools now, but was a night float at a chronically understaffed hospital prior to that.  I could be found on med-surg, tele, ICU, or ER...plus maybe twice on the behavior floor where I went kicking and screaming.  Anyway, I have lived the shift wars and especially the floor wars.  It's sad that it happens because every aspect of nursing in so necessary.

Med-surg gave me a taste of everything, some great people to work with, excellent time management and organizational skills, a sounds knowledge of drugs, and experience in skills that I was often called upon to do on the specialty floors.  Some examples: No one on tele knew what to do with a CBI clot, the ER didn't have experience when a patient came in with a different model pleurax drain, and one ICU nurse freaked out when the unit had mostly tele holds and she had to take care of four of them instead of her usual two ICU patients....I actually got called down from the med-surg floor to handle that. 

Every floor has its great people and its whiners. Keep being a great example to newer nurses.  Yes, many of them are eager to go in other directions but if they are destined to be good nurses, they will appreciate your knowledge and passion.  As others have said, the need to knock others is a reflection on them.  

Shift wars...well that's usually an outcome of poor management and understaffing. In my cases it was those very nurses that wanted to get away from actual nursing causing the problems.  Hang in there and keep being you!

[WestCoastSunRN, MSN, CNS]

What a refreshing post.  A nurse who likes her job!  Looks like you've found your niche - at least for now.  You are young in your career - you can always branch out and try something different later - or you can just keep being a rockstar expert in m/s nursing.  Others have said it well - m/s nurses are the backbone of acute care - hands down - and finding m/s nurses who are really good and experienced and passionate is like finding diamonds!

By all means, get certified.  I think you will have an even greater appreciation for what you do (and your knowledge) after studying for and passing the certification exam.  

[llg, PhD, RN]

I strongly agree with the previous posters.  If you like your job -- stay there and be grateful you are able to earn a living in a job that you like!   It is a job that is needed by society and your work helps many people on a daily basis.  Be proud.

You might want to explore becoming certified as a med/surg nurse.  You also might want to become a Charge Nurse and/or Preceptor.   With you experience and maturity, being a leader on your unit might become a strong, positive influence on the culture of your new workplace.   That would be a wonderful thing.   The culture may not be perfect now, but you could help make it better in the future.  ?

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

People say to get out of MS as fast as possible in situations where the hospital doesn't provide enough staff. If you have enough staff on your floor and you have good co--workers and good management then there is no reason to get out. I went from one heart floor to another heart floor at another hospital because the previous employer treated their employees like a number and low balled them with pay. I thought I wanted to do ICU but honestly I like working a step-down. Now if we can get our floor to turn into an actual step-down (3:1) then id probably never leave. 

[Newishnurse1995]

If you like it, why would you ever think of leaving? I lasted in medsurg for two years, but could t handle it for various reasons. Handling 6 patients with frequent admissions at night is tough. Pat yourself on the back. Medsurg nurses are not the scum of the earth.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I was a med/surg nurse for several years and became a CMSRN. I didn't know I was going to have a breakdown six months later which necessitated my departure from acute care. But I'm still proud that I was a Certified Medical/Surgical Registered Nurse, if only for a short time.

I've known a number of M/S nurses who stuck with it throughout their whole career. They loved it and couldn't imagine doing anything else. I found myself more fulfilled as a float nurse who went almost anywhere in the hospital. Loved mother/baby care and CCU. Sometimes I would work three different units in the course of a 12-hour shift! But M/S was my home base for almost three years, and I probably would stayed there if my health hadn't given out. Long live Med/Surg nurses!