Please educate me...again!

Ok, since you all have been so helpful and encourge me to ask any questions I may have, here is the next one:

What does the term med/surg mean? I have a general idea, but need the details.

(Please feel free to laugh at my still wet behind the ears, pre-nursing student self) :roll

[hapeewendy]

med/surg is a broad term that combines all things medical with all things surgical

if you work on a med/surg floor then youre on a ward that has medicine patients as well as surgery patients

when youre studying from your med/surg textbook you are learning about medical illness as well as those ailments that require surgery

[proud2bme]

Ah, I see. Thanks Wendy!

[Jenny P]

Medical patients may include someone with pneumonia, kidney stones, a stroke, or chicken pox or flu, in short, any reason (besides surgery) that a patient would be hospitalized today. Before there were critical care units, heart attack patients were also considered medical patients (I don't know if they still are or not, though).

Surgical includes both before and after surgery, so these patients would be admitted to the same unit they will come back to after surgery (unless they are AM admits, meaning they come straight into the pre-op area the morning of surgery instead of spending and extra 8-24 hours in hospital like they used to).

Hope that helps also.