Not happy with med/surg...

[RNNC2003]

I am a new grad and am not happy with my first job out of school. I picked a med/surg floor because I didn't have any experience (besides what little experience we got during clinicals) and I figured I'd learn a lot. Well, after two months of pure stress, I've decided that I just am not cut out of it. I don't like the total care patients we get on our floor. This is going to sound really stupid, but what other floors could I get experience without having to get the total care, over 80 year old crowd of patients that seem to frequent our floor? I have to stay on my floor for six months before I can transfer out. I wish I would have just gone into Mother/Baby like I wanted. Any suggestions on where to go from here? Maybe GYN med/surg or something more specialized (not a unit though...). Thanks!

[sjoe]

It used to be the case nearly universally that no specialty would take a new nurse who hadn't first completed at least one year of med-surg. People who so advised you were doing so based on their experience. Some facilities still have this policy. Some others apparently are more willing to try new grads in certain specialties.

Probably the wisest thing is to find out whether you would have a chance to start working OB/GYN/whatever, since that is what you want to do, at facilities that interest you BEFORE simply quitting a med-surg position. Those facilities may or may not take you on in that specialty at this time. Find out first, would be my advice. If you can find what you want, and it is available now, go for it.

[inna]

I do sympahatize with RNNC2003, I've only been a nurse for 1 year in M/S/Telemetry Floor. I always have that feeling of I can't take it anymore..I'm gon'na quit tomorrow.. and everyday that I work is like a hell of a stress. I know that one day I'm gon'na be out of my floor, too. It's just that only M/S has an openning for 12 hr shift days in almost all of the hospitals. If there's a vacancy in OB, most of the time it's evening or night shift ...If it's in OR, PACU they want at least some year of experience..SIGGGHHH!!!

Forgive me for sounding pathetic...I'm just venting out.

Nowadays, most of the new grads are trying to run as fast as they can not to work in M/S floors... I think M/S should be considered, too as a specialty area....management must offer higher rate of pay and retention bonuses for M/S nurses. Otherwise who will replace our devoted nurses in M/S floor when they retire? M/S floor has already earned it's reputation at its own right. This is not just a basic floor where most of the new grads are welcome to work...(yeaah right "welcome to the jungle!)