Published
unless you plan on moonlighting
on a med-surg floor,
the old adage reigns,
"what you don't use,
you lose."
i use-to-be
a med-surg nurse
then burn-out almost
made me a use-to-be nurse.
but some med-surg stuff
always stays with you
helps me
come to the rescue
and if i were you
i'd dibble-and-dabble in med-surg
just to guarantee
my long-term career marketability.
showbizrn:redbeathe from the heart.
Yes you will lose your med/surg skills. If you love psych nursing stay in it and don't worry. I don't have a crystal ball but it seems psych nursing is doing ok if not better than generic med/surg nursing as far as employment opportunities.
If you are concerned you could try to pick up some ?? one weekend a month or something job on a med/surg unit or even a long term care unit? But if you don't have that much energy or time don't worry about losing med/surg skills and be the best psych nurse you can be.
BSNBritt
24 Posts
Hi Everyone,
I graduated this year with my BSN and started working full time in inpatient psych right away. Before I started working, I had heard the recommendation to get two years of med/surg experience. I applied for a couple places with no success, and when I was offered a job in psych (my passion) I had to take it. Well now that I'm here and can see where the recommendation comes from. I work with a lot of psych nurses that can't draw blood, can't insert a foley, and remember virtually nothing about infection control. They admit that it's from spending years and years in psych. Now I'm worried about losing all of the skills I learned in school, and I feel like the longer I stay in psych-the less marketable I will be to any other field of nursing.
How do you keep your skills up?
Has anyone experienced that more years as a psych nurse equal less options in other fields?
Thanks, Britt