Newsflash: Med/Surg RN's have the toughest job

Specialties Med-Surg

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Guttercat, ASN, RN

1,353 Posts

I love my med/surg/onc. i work on a 40 bed unit and have for 7 yrs. I have no desire to leave med/surg but i know some day my back will be telling me to leave bed side nursing :nailbiting:. I enjoy the varity of pt's I get yes some are good and of course some are bad but that is in any type of nursing you do. ICU is not for me to many bells that make noise, ER if only I could care for adults pedi is not for me. I give a hand to all the ICU/ER nurses you can be just as busy and crazy as any med/surg floor.

ICU certainly can be just as busy, but it's a focused kind of busy. I call it controlled chaos, as opposed to the carpet-bombing chaos of M/S.

NurseHotFlash

96 Posts

Just heard last night, that our PRN nurses will have the option of refusing med/surg assignments! That pretty much says it all.

BusyRN9yrs

1 Post

I work primarily as a Med-Surg nurse, but am cross-trained to work in the ICU. I like both, but for different reasons. Yes, the med-surg unit can be insanely busy at times, but that is where I have learned how to prioritize and "think on my feet" the fastest. Because I have a larger patient load, I have more experience dealing with lots of different systems, diseases and patient types. I am one of the "old hands" on that unit and serve as a resource to the newer nurses. On the other hand, I am a "newbie" in the ICU and am in many ways essentially a student there. ICU seems to have "bursts" of chaos...when a patient is tanking and requires all hands on deck to manage, whereas med-surg seems to be a fairly consistent level of chaos....like from the beginning to the end of the shift. The experiences have been invaluable to me and made me a better med surg RN. I love both, and hope to be able to do both for a very long time.

Nitfree

30 Posts

Specializes in emergency room.

I've been enjoying reading the posts. Hats off to Guttercat who stated things so perfectly! I tried hard to get a "specialty" unit after school, especially ER which I loved, but I kept finding myself in Med Surg. I put in for a transfer and was granted a choice of 2 different units, but as I watched what their nurses did and observed their patient load I decided to stay in Med Surg. I was afraid my hours would be cut, and I felt I would be too bored. Don't have to worry about that in Med Surg. Now I'm charge and do some managerial duties. I couldn't be happier! I thrive on the constant challenges and the crazy-buzy. I agree that years ago (35 to be exact) it took me only one minute to do what now takes me 5 minutes. Over the years, I've worked in every area of the hospital plus LTC and Med Surg is the hardest. We really do have to know everything about every thing. AMSN will celebrate Med Surg Nurses on Nov 1-7...I thank God for the crew I have now!

kitkatsmom

9 Posts

I currently work in med surg. It is hard. Our ratio is 1:5 but it can go higher. I worked in a post hospital Ltc facility before the hospital with a ratio of 1:16. Thought it was crazy busy but nothing matches med surg. Gotta agree with the poster who said you need to be a bit ADD!!!! Cause you really do have to flip from one thing to the next in a second and be able to fly. Type A personality is a must. I gotta admit. I love it in med surg. When I get pulled to other areas I find it to slow paced

I'm starting nursing school on Monday & have my mind set on working in the ER or Med/serg only.

dansamy

672 Posts

Specializes in Going to Peds!.
I currently work in med surg. It is hard. Our ratio is 1:5 but it can go higher. I worked in a post hospital Ltc facility before the hospital with a ratio of 1:16. Thought it was crazy busy but nothing matches med surg. Gotta agree with the poster who said you need to be a bit ADD!!!! Cause you really do have to flip from one thing to the next in a second and be able to fly. Type A personality is a must. I gotta admit. I love it in med surg. When I get pulled to other areas I find it to slow paced

Type A is NOT a must. I'm about as laid back and far from type A as you can get. I've been a peds med/surg nurse for over 6 years. I am ADD though.

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PacoUSA, BSN, RN

3,445 Posts

Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

Type A is NOT a must. I'm about as laid back and far from type A as you can get. I've been a peds med/surg nurse for over 6 years. I am ADD though.

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I agree, I'm far from a Type A. Keeping calm in critical situations is my biggest asset on this unit.

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Wheaties

159 Posts

i timed how long it takes just to pull out a narcotic pain medicine, scan the patient's arm band, scan the med, enter pain score in the computer at the same time, and finally give the med. the fastest I have ever done it was 5 minutes. even though we area computerized charting now, the workflow and system is flawed. there are a billion places to document stuff, and it's so cluttered and inefficient. discharging 1 patient can take 1 hour because we have to follow policies and procedures to meet state requirements and this means documenting things in a million places, and providing information to patient and having them sign what seems like 50 pages of paperwork.

i really do think that any fields or areas in nursing will have some stress. i was talking to this retired psych nurse who used to work for the county, and i told her how med-surg is busy and so stressful. and she said, anywhere will have its challenges and stress. then i just roll my eyes inside of me and said to myself, OH PLEAAAAASE!!! med-surg is one crazy place to work in and probably the most stressful department to work in nursing. i've been here for 3 years now. i'm still young, in my late 20s, so i'm not in a rush to go to another department. there will be plenty of opportunity down the line. i'm sure psych nursing is busy also and can be stressful. but don't compare apples and oranges. i'm trying to be patient here, but i dont think i will work in med-surg for the rest of my life.

the nurse turnover ratio speaks for itself. sometimes i feel sad when a new nurse who's been working there for 1 year or less leaves for another department because in our department in med-surg we try to help each other out even if it's really busy. we ask for second opinions amongst our nurses that work that shift to make the right and safest decisions for the patient. but i really do feel sad though when new grads leave, then a new ones come along and they leave. i understand it's a business and i'm happy that they are pursuing their goals and dreams.

NurseNanci1

63 Posts

I'm a new grad and start my first job on MedSurg in a couple of weeks. years ago i was a PCA on medsurg so I knew I wanted it. When I interviewed I was told it's rare a student WANTS medsurg. I like the variety and fast pace. When i was a PCA I remember thinking the medsurg nurses I worked with were ROCKSTARS of the nursing world. I'm excited to start MedSurg I know it will be challenging and hectic but I didn't want a "cush" job (not saying other specialities are cush) just saying I thought MedSurg was the place that would keep me challenged and involved in my nursing career/education. I literally can't wait to get started. I'm a little scared but a lot excited :)

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