New graduate question

AliNajaCat · Feb 10, 2017

Homework? What makes you ask? Your thoughts?

Flatline, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2017

I wish I had that opportunity, I had to start off in LTC.

I do not think med/surg is a career requirement for a new graduate.

rnstanely · Feb 10, 2017

Personally, I think that having at least a year of Med/surg nursing should be mandatory. Med/surg gives the basis for all nursing. I think that is what any nurse should do anyways. I have floated to different departments and feel like I am not always lost because I have a lot experience in different areas.

rnstanely · Feb 10, 2017

Its was hard but when I graduated that's what I did.

Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2017

I disagree with the "all new grads should do one year of medical/surgical nursing"; not everyone has a desire or the skill-set to work on a med/surg floor. If a new graduate feels that they want to start off in critical care/OR/mother baby, etc then more power to them.

Many hospital systems offer nurse residency programs to acclimate and transition new grads into their specialty. I was involved in one such program where I received a 4 month orientation into a general medical/surgical ICU and was required to take a critical care course, ACLS, arrhythmia course, and much more. At the end of it I felt ready to care for critical patients without a preceptor, those that did not were afforded an extra 1-2 months on orientation.

Everyone is different and if they have the opportunity to go into a specialty that they like then why pigeon hold themselves to someplace else just because someone thinks that all new grads should be in med/surg.

shedevilprincss · Feb 10, 2017

I think it depends on what field you want. I started in the ED as a new grad with a 16 week preceptorship under a new grad residency. It was hard but I knew ED was what I wanted so I made it happen. I was also lucky that my hospital lets new grads work in the ED. Not all places have openings for new grads in every dept.

It all depends on the floor, the training you will receive, the opportunities in your area, and your ultimate end goal.

jessicarami · Feb 10, 2017

I am graduating in May and really I don't know what department to go into. I want to go straight into a specialty but I don't know if working on the med/surg floor would be an advantage.

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2017

I'm a new-ish grad, very freshly out of orientation and on my own. I did not have the most positive med-surg experiences during nursing school and I knew that, even though I always got very bizarre cases (I'm a magnet for strange things), it was probably not where I would be happiest. I'm also a little older than the average new grad and I wanted to get my career started in the direction I hoped to be ASAP -- I did not agree that 1 year in adult med-surg would benefit me going into peds hemonc.

With that in mind, I pursued a RN residency that would prepare me specifically for my intended specialty. The residency had didactic courses that were unique to my specialty (we had 2 weeks of specifically hemonc courses) and the rest were general peds didactics that the whole residency cohort went through. It gave me a bit of a balance in terms of dealing w/ the med-surg things that still do occur on my unit (we are still considered a med-surg unit that occasionally verges on critical care) as well as getting a barely-scratched-the-surface introduction to hemonc. I feel that was an advantage in comparison to a typical 10-week Orientation of Doom.

The reason why all the above is working for me is because I knew in my heart of hearts that I wanted to be a peds hemonc nurse. I understand that the craziness of adult med-surg is supposed to help lay down a foundation for time management and helps develop a broad skill set. Based on where I wanted to end up (a top children's hospital) and what was available to me (the adult med-surg hospitals are...so-so at best and the good ones don't take new grads), I chose to specialize right out of the gate. If you don't know what your specialty is or if you suspect adult med-surg is the specialty for you (it's still a specialty!), then consider getting into a residency program that adequately supports your transition regardless of what your chosen specialty is.

RNperdiem, RN · Feb 10, 2017

A new grad should not have to work med-surg right out of school, but a new grad is usually not in a position to be choosy, and med-surg floors are often willing to hire new grads.

I worked med-surg as a new grad. While I did not always like the work, it did give me the opportunity to work as a nurse and take my experience into an area that I liked better.

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Feb 10, 2017

I went directly to CCU,

Artsy_RN · Feb 10, 2017

No, a new nurse shouldn't be required to work in Med/Surg. I went straight into the ED through a residency program and am doing just fine. I would even say that some of the floor nurses often have a difficult time transitioning to the flow and pace of the ED which I learned right from the start. Go for whatever specialty you are drawn to.