New grad question for all you pros out there :)

llg, PhD, RN · Feb 24, 2006

Lots and lots of people NEVER practice adult med/surg nursing in their entire careers. I went straight to a NICU as new grad many years ago and don't regret it. As someone who taught NICU orientation for many years, I can tell you that adult med/surg experience is of no help to people who want to be NICU nurses. Virtually all of my pediatric colleagues say the same thing.

Now ... that is probably not the same for all specialties. Adult med/surg experience might be very helpful for some specialties. But it is not helpful for all specialties.

I have also noticed that most people who say that all new grads should get adult med/surg experience before doing anything else -- happen to BE adult med/surg nurses themselves.

My advice is to listen to what the people who work in the specialties of your choice tell you. Consider it carefully ... then go where your heart tells you to go .... and then be prepared to accept the consequences of that decision, both good and bad consequences.

Good luck to you,

llg

EDGRADNURSE · Feb 25, 2006

Hi,

In my opinion (as a new grad in the ED) orientation is very important (mine is 6 months long-including classroom, floor time, ACLS, etc.). Learning basic nursing skills in such a fast-paced environment can be very stressful. However, when I see how the M/S nurses are beaten on (8 patients to 1 nurse!), I cannot imagine that a new grad in M/S has a much easier time. Being a new grad anywhere is pretty..um..challenging.

I'd say go for what you are interested in.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2006

Good advice, as always, from llg.

Don't go into something you hate. You will hear people tell you this is what you should do, but why torture yourself.

Best of luck with whatever you do.

Maevish, ASN, RN · Feb 25, 2006

thanks a lot...i never really considered the fact that most of the people who were telling me to get the m/s experience were, in fact m/s nurses! i'm such a dork!

lyallch · Feb 25, 2006

And people who say that we should go into M/S for at least a year before going for midwifery or any specialty have actually wanted to go into that specialty and got stuck in M/S for one reason or another. One of my colleagues got told that and when my friend disagreed in that none of the skills you get in M/S you can translate to use in any other specialty in the next floor got that nurse going :angryfire . Think it has something to do with being a sour grape.

Go figure....

RN34TX · Feb 25, 2006

I'm surprised that no one who is in favor of starting out in med/surg has chimed in yet, because I've read a lot of posts from them when this subject comes up.

Regardless of whether or not you hear it here, you will here it from other people.

In my opinion, it's very outdated wisdom from nurses who were nurses back in the day when you had no choice because new grads were never hired straight into specialties.

Not that all well seasoned nurses feel this way, but for the ones who do, they've usually been nurses for a long time, long before new grads had access to places like NICU or L&D, so some meet it with much resistance.

I worked med/surg for years before moving to ICU. But that was mostly because I had few other choices because I was an LPN then.

Med/surg was great experience and very helpful for someone like me moving to adult ICU, but I'd hardly call it necessary.

I started ICU with a batch of new grads and finished orientation in less than half the time as a result of my previous experience, but is that really any big deal in the grand scheme of things? No.

IMHO, med/surg can be pure torture, and if you already know that you don't like it before you even start working in it, then don't even waste your time and energy. Med/Surg nurses who stay in it have to like it to some extent, because I'd say that it's the most abusive area I've ever worked.

My worst day in ICU or PACU pales in comparison to any average day I ever had working med/surg. Never again.

goody1shoe · Mar 5, 2006

I'm surprised that no one who is in favor of starting out in med/surg has chimed in yet, because I've read a lot of posts from them when this subject comes up.
Regardless of whether or not you hear it here, you will here it from other people.
In my opinion, it's very outdated wisdom from nurses who were nurses back in the day when you had no choice because new grads were never hired straight into specialties.

I was hired as a new grad into OB and after 6 months was pulled to the med/surg, I could not function. I wish I had gone to med/surg straight out of school. I think it should be a requirement. I don't like med/surg but the experience would be invaluable.

NephroBSN, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2006

Not all of us who think most every nurse should do M/S are M/S nurses.. Actually, I think they should more so since I left M/S than when I did it.

NephroBSN, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2006

I'm surprised that no one who is in favor of starting out in med/surg has chimed in yet, because I've read a lot of posts from them when this subject comes up.
Regardless of whether or not you hear it here, you will here it from other people.
In my opinion, it's very outdated wisdom from nurses who were nurses back in the day when you had no choice because new grads were never hired straight into specialties.
Not that all well seasoned nurses feel this way, but for the ones who do, they've usually been nurses for a long time, long before new grads had access to places like NICU or L&D, so some meet it with much resistance.
I worked med/surg for years before moving to ICU. But that was mostly because I had few other choices because I was an LPN then.
Med/surg was great experience and very helpful for someone like me moving to adult ICU, but I'd hardly call it necessary.
I started ICU with a batch of new grads and finished orientation in less than half the time as a result of my previous experience, but is that really any big deal in the grand scheme of things? No.
IMHO, med/surg can be pure torture, and if you already know that you don't like it before you even start working in it, then don't even waste your time and energy. Med/Surg nurses who stay in it have to like it to some extent, because I'd say that it's the most abusive area I've ever worked.
My worst day in ICU or PACU pales in comparison to any average day I ever had working med/surg. Never again.

I think your years of being an LPN on a M/S unit were invaluable. And because you have nothing to compare it to how can you say it wasn't.

You said you finished your orientation in half the time. That says something.

RN34TX · Mar 6, 2006

I think your years of being an LPN on a M/S unit were invaluable. And because you have nothing to compare it to how can you say it wasn't.
You said you finished your orientation in half the time. That says something.

True, I have nothing to compare it to.

I wasn't trying to say that my med/surg experience wasn't valuable, I just don't think that it was necessary.

I disagree with nurses who believe that med/surg should be mandatory before going on to other areas, but that's not an attempt on my part to say that med/surg experience isn't valuable before moving on to other areas.

As far as the comment from another post about working OB for 6 months and then getting floated to Med/Surg and feeling "lost", well that's a floating issue with management.

OB nurses shouldn't be getting floated to med/surg in the first place, it's a totally different skill set.

Noahj · Mar 7, 2006

I'm in the same exact boat as the original poster. I graduate in December and really desire to be an ICU nurse myself. I have been interning at my hospital for nearly a year now and without a doubt love ICU more than anything i have done.

I talked with the ICU manager and he advised me to start in Intermediate Care for 6 months and then transfer to ICU. He did say however that he would hire a new grad in ICU if they interned there and showed good work habits.

My home floor is Neuro (which i hate) and i'm debating on whether to switch to ICU or Intermediate Care. I'm being told to do Med/Surg for a year as well but i hate what i have seen from there thus far. Our Med/Surg floor nurses have 7-9 patients and they are continuously stressed. I dont want that at all.

I'll take some advice here as well.