Newbie question: What exactly is M/S

[ER1010]

Can someone clarify what exactly a med-surg floor is, or what med-surg comprises?

For instance, would a nurse who has just ortho patients be ortho, but a nurse with a mix of ortho, cardiac, and neuro patients be med-surg?

I guess I am confused because most hospitals to my knowledge have a neuro or ortho or cardiac area, so how can someone be med-surg?

Thanks in advance!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I think you've got it. Med-Surg is a broad term for non-critical areas. Usually when someone says med-surg they are talking about a unit with a wide variety of medical (gi problems, COPD, etc.) and surgical problems (ortho, abominal, etc.).

I'm not sure if there is an established definition of med-surg. It would be interesting to find out.

[apaisRN, RN, CRNA]

To me med-surg is general acute care. Ortho is med-surg. Pretty much everything in a hospital is med-surg except for critical care, ER, maternity, peds, and psych.