Med Surg....... what to expect???

Do-over, ASN, RN · Dec 23, 2008

I just finished med-surg 1 and had a great, and challenging, time. The main thing my instructor focused on for clinical was to watch the WHOLE patient - what are their normals? What are their trends with VS, labs, I&O, etc. Why are we doing the things we are doing? What do they do at home versus what they are having in the hospital. What is a big deal? Why are you giving that med? Perhaps most importantly, if the patient is not voiding make sure you tell someone pronto!

As for tips, if you are giving meds know when you would hold them (ie, hold BP meds when BP is below XYZ), know if there is an antidote, and definitely know why the patient is getting that med. And, always volunteer/say yes when one of the staff or your teacher says..."do you want to see/learn/try _____?"

ETA - as for theory / lecture, just be sure to figure out how to answer the dreaded "NCLEX style" questions.

Natingale, EdD, RN · Dec 23, 2008

Do over thanks for the input

Great thread I was wondering the same thing myself

Med surg sounds a lot like our fundmentals

Do-over, ASN, RN · Dec 23, 2008

Well, we had Foundations first half of the semester, then MS1 the second half, so it was really "putting it all together", or trying to at least...

We did focus on surgical and diabetic patients, although we had all kinds, in clinical.

lisa-rn2b · Dec 23, 2008

I just finished med-surg 1 and had a great, and challenging, time. The main thing my instructor focused on for clinical was to watch the WHOLE patient - what are their normals? What are their trends with VS, labs, I&O, etc. Why are we doing the things we are doing? What do they do at home versus what they are having in the hospital. What is a big deal? Why are you giving that med? Perhaps most importantly, if the patient is not voiding make sure you tell someone pronto!
As for tips, if you are giving meds know when you would hold them (ie, hold BP meds when BP is below XYZ), know if there is an antidote, and definitely know why the patient is getting that med. And, always volunteer/say yes when one of the staff or your teacher says..."do you want to see/learn/try _____?"
ETA - as for theory / lecture, just be sure to figure out how to answer the dreaded "NCLEX style" questions.

Thanks for the input... It helps if you sorta know what to expect going into different classes. (for me anyway!!) I will be sure and volunteer for as many proceedures as I can.. I know I learn better by experience. Thanks again :)

lovehospital · Dec 23, 2008

You just learn about different diseases,treatments,labs,nursing interventions.Concentrate on the whole picture rather than its parts.

Lets take a disease such as "Diverticulitis" (the inflammation of pouches in the wall of colon) for example...

1.What is this disease? How and why does in happen in the body?

2.How it is diagnosed-what tests will the patient undergo in order for the diagnosis to be confirmed.If you know what tests to expect,most likely the docs will order one of them them and therefore you can look it up how to prepare the patient for it.

3.What abnormal labs should be expected?

4.What are the signs and symptoms of this disease.

5.If you know the signs and symptoms it will be easier for you to determine your actions as nurse.For example if the patient who has diverticulitis is vomiting you probably will start IV fluids on him and keep him NPO...

6.Will the patient have surgery?

7.Patient teaching.What can you teach the patient from happening this again to him?

SarahM1981 · Dec 23, 2008

I just got done with Med/Surg I myself and the last post sums things up pretty well!! Be sure to understand the concepts so you can apply them to the individual situation, also, what was important to my class was to practice test taking skills. So many people in my class understood the material but totally ate it on the tests because of the NCLEX style questions. Take practice tests if you can find them and don't let them discourage you. I did so badly on the practice tests, but I learned from them and did well on the actual exams. Good luck to you and all of us bracing for another quarter! Eek!!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2008

part of studying med/surg is learning about many different diseases. that includes learning the pathophysiology, signs/symptoms, usual tests ordered, and medical treatment for a medical disease or condition. this includes knowing about any medical procedures that will need to be performed on the patient, their expected consequences during the healing phase, and potential complications. surgery is a treatment for a disease or condition.

click on the link at the bottom of this post, the critical thinking flow sheet for nursing students, and print it out. use this to help you learn all the elements you need to know about each medical disease/condition you will be studying in your course. to determine priority of treatments and interventions consider the sequence of the appearance of symptoms and/or maslow's hierarchy of needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs)

you can use the weblinks on this thread to help you research diseases: https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/medical-disease-information-treatment-procedures-test-reference-websites-258109.html - medical disease information/treatment/procedures/test reference websites

deftonez188 · Dec 23, 2008

Expect to try to motivate patients that don't want to get out of bed / participate at all in any part of their recovery. Keep in mind your goals are not theirs - just don't become a puppet, explain interventions and rationales and if they don't want to do it - fine, chart it. Just don't end up being the nice little nursing student who gets them new glasses of water with approximately 7 ice cubes in it...people are manipulative and demanding :) GO PSYCH!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 24, 2008

Expect to try to motivate patients that don't want to get out of bed / participate at all in any part of their recovery. Keep in mind your goals are not theirs - just don't become a puppet, explain interventions and rationales and if they don't want to do it - fine, chart it. Just don't end up being the nice little nursing student who gets them new glasses of water with approximately 7 ice cubes in it...people are manipulative and demanding :) GO PSYCH!

It's going to take a long time to get to the day of your retirement party. :vlin:

intuition · Dec 24, 2008

Another tip is to learn what lab values/assessments u need to obtain/perform before giving certain meds. Ex. For Digoxin you have to know the apical heart rate, for Lasix we had to know the Potassium level. My clinical instructor would be furious if we didn't know these values ahead of time before giving the medications.

deftonez188 · Dec 24, 2008

It's going to take a long time to get to the day of your retirement party. :vlin:

I know right? Lend me the bountiful joy from your Candy Land

Anyways, as stated, never expect your goals for them to be theirs as well.

PS - It's ok if people think differently from you