Medical Teaching

[lala34lismchle]

I am about to graduate and am applying for a job ona medical teaching floor. I was wondering if anyone can explain what kind of patients I would be dealing with and exactly what I would be doing. I asked the recruiter and she said I would get good experience and still get a lot of experience with skills, but I am unsure of exactly what Ill be doing?

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

i assume this is a floor that specializes in newly diagnosed patients, such as adults who've just learned that they have diabetes or copd. so teaching would be a big part of your job. i don't know if, due to the teaching nature, you'd have less patients than on any old medical floor, but that, i believe, would be the only difference. you'd do anything a medical floor nurse would do!

i'm going based on the medical teaching floor that i'm familiar with (i never worked there myself), so the best source is either someone who works there, or the nurse manager should you interview. ask him/her to explain what makes that particular floor special!

i wish you the best!

jess

[RN1989]

Sounds like a general medical unit. When they say "teaching" they usually mean that there medical students/interns/residents that care for the patients. Which means that you would probably be seeing/assisting the docs with procedures on the floor that may be done elsewhere at a non-teaching facility. Usually when the residents are learning about a new procedure, lab, tx, etc. they try to order it on EVERYONE. Which can be a pain in the butt. But every once in a while they will actually order someting interesting that is appropriate to that pt. It also means that you will need to be on your toes. Residents can be great but they can also be really ignorant of the real world hospital and require the guidance of a good nurse to make sure that they order appropriate txs and not try to get too ridiculous with some of the stuff they want to try.

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

If they offer you the position, I suggest that you request a shadowing experience before accepting. This is the best way to get a feel for what you would be doing on a daily basis.