New Grad and Med/Surg...

[kimmie23]

I am so excited nursing school is almost over. I am doing Role transition for the next 2 weeks and graduate December 16, 2005. :balloons:

I just got offered a job on a Med/Surg floor the surgical unit. Any words of wisdom about Med surg for a new grad. Thanks.......:)

[TexasPediRN]

Always ask questions if you arent sure.

and

No question is ever stupid.

These are my words of wisdom to any new grad :)

med surg is fast paced, so just be organized , write down notes to remember things if you need to, and always remember sometimes people just need you to ask them how their day is to make things a lot better. Its better to take one minute of your time to have a happy patient, then to not take that one minute and have a cranky patient all night..

Best of luck in your new role as a nurse!! Congrats!

[christvs, DNP, RN, NP]

Hi! I've been an RN for 5 months now and I also work on a med/surg unit. My words of wisdom to you: be patient & proud of yourself and your accomplishments, ask questions all the time, ask for help, look up meds, diseases, treatments, whatever you need clarification on once you get home from work so you'll know more about it next time you see it, and when you're having a stressful day at work, tell yourself you are doing the best you can & recognize that sometimes you have to just go with the flow & realize it's not you, it's just a stressful job at times. Good luck and best wishes!!!! :)

-Christine

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

As you get comfortable in your role as RN, a couple suggestions to make your life easier.

Go with the doctors when they come to the floor to make rounds. If you have more then one doc hit the floor at the same time, go with the one who has the most or more acutely ill patients.

It makes discharging their patients easier when you know what kind of follow up they like and can reinforce any teaching or information he/she has given the patient.

You will learn how each dr. likes their dressings changed, how often, and if they want anything used to clean, ie. saline, h2o2,.

It gives you an opportunity to ask questions of the dr that the patient has asked you and werent sure about how to answer.

It also gives you an opportunity to ask the dr questions you need to for your own information. They usually are very anxious to answer questions, especially for a NEW RN. Dont wait till youve been there 3 years to start asking them questions you should have asked years earlier.

Always ask questions when you arent sure. If you get attitude from someone,, go to someone else.