do i really have to do med surg

[lflyew]

I want to kno if i have to do one year of med surg after obtaining my license before going into a specialty especially if i already kno wat specialty i want to be in

[Scrubby]

I don't think it should be mandatory but while I loathed working in the area I certainly learned a lot about time management, handling stress and assessment.

[RazorbackRN, BSN, RN]

I knew from the beginning that I never wanted to work Med-Surg. I started out in an ICU and have only done ICU or stepdown since.

If you know that this is something you do not want to do, then I think it is pointless. I surely don't regret it.

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

Nope, you don't. I don't think it would have helped me ANY with NICU. I can't see myself ever doing anything but NICU (maybe well baby or OR when I get way older) so I'm not too worried about it.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

you don't have to do med-surg. its a lie people tell to try to get more med-surg nurses! actually, in my area, a lot of times if you don't have previous experience in the field you are going into (critical care, or, L&D especially) you will be hard up to get in it later on.

Sorry, but this does quite disservice to med-surg nurses who are not only great at what they do, but don't WANT some newbie who only wants to "put in time" before transferring elsewhere....we have better things to do than train them so they can leave next year, I can assure you! They aren't doing us any favors by sucking up orientation time, preceptor time, and the whole "new nurse" period before quitting, trust me.

As for the "if you don't have specialty experience" line, that's obviously not true everywhere, as in my area, if you don't have a solid med-surg background, you're not going to be going into critical care or L&D anytime soon.

So it very much depends on WHERE you are looking to work (specialty as well as area of the country) as to whether that year or two is important or not. Outside of the peds specialties mentioned here a few times, many times the adult areas (including ED and ICU) aren't interested in training anyone without them having experience in med-surg, period.

Know WHERE you want to work geographically before deciding if you do or do not need med-surg experience. People here can say NO NO NO, but unless you know the exact facilities you are applying to, we can only say MAYBE MAYBE MAYBE!

[missninaRN]

I agree that it depends on the facility. My hospital's OR won't even look at your application until you've had a year of medsurg.

Some of my friends went straight into a specialty and I think that's great if you are absolutely positive that this is what you want to do. I chose to do medsurg because I felt I needed to develop a broad foundation in nursing.

My best friend went straight to OB because it's what she wanted. Another went into ICU and will be able to work anywhere because of her experience in critical care. I see myself in teaching eventually and I feel that several years in medsurg will better prepare me for that. I want to keep all of my options open at this point and know that developing as many skills as possible in medsurg in these first few years of my practice will help me to do that.

[BookwormRN]

Speaking from my perspective as a Med/Surg nurse:

I think it is extremely beneficial to work this area prior to a specialty. Especially in a small hospital, I DO have peds, hospice, surgical, medical, Tele, rehab (ie: swing bed), detox. We can have pts from 1 month of age and up.

I know that this area of nursing has really made me a better nurse. I have learned to prioritize and be organized.

I feel that med/surg is a specialty-we specialize in EVERYTHING!

[Christen, ANP]

What type of specialty are you looking into? If you are planning to go to L&D or the OR or something like that, I would recommend reinforcing what you learned in nursing school so that you don't loose that knowledge by working on a med/surg area. If you are looking into Critical Care or an area that deals with a broad patient type, it's not really necessary because in these types of areas you will be reinforcing what you learned in school.

Recently, my unit had an OR nurse float to us, and the poor thing felt like she had to start from the beginning because she'd only ever worked in the OR! The patient types are very different, and she lost a lot of the basics by not reinforcing them in the beginning.

[Lovely_RN, MSN]

I'm going crazy over this issue too.

I'm an LPN working in geriatrics and I'm not sure if I want to work in a hospital period. I wonder all the time if I will be making the biggest mistake of my life if I continue to work in geriatrics as an RN.

I like working with the elderly and since we have all of these baby boomers growing older I think I will have a pretty secure future in geriatrics. I also have some limited experience in my facility working with hospice patients and I really want to pursue that area at some point.

The thing is that it is so looked down upon to work in geriatrics and everyone keeps telling me that I need to work in a hospital (Med/surg specifically) or I will lose my skills.

Ugh, I'm so stressed out over this and I'm not even graduating until the spring.

[Christen, ANP]

You, m'dear, should do what you want to do. You deciding to do geriatric or hospice means that you will be doing what you love and a love of what you do benefits not only you but your patients. After all, we're nurses because most of us want to help other people, and choosing an area that best fits us benefits everyone.

Your situation is a bit different: you already have a clinical background, you don't have as much a need to reinforce skills that you pretty much only know from the classroom, not from experience. IMO, new nurses who have little to no clinical background (acting as a pct doesn't entirely count because it's a different set of responsibilities) should ensure that they reinforce their basic patient care taking skills before moving into specialty areas where they won't be using those skills (the OR, for example.)

Good luck! :)

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Why spend a year being miserable. Go for what you want from the get go. You hone any necessary skills there in time.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I'm actually torn on this idea, and I started in the ED as a new grad. While I did just fine, it was tough. I wonder sometimes if it would have been easier with some floor experience.

I think if you have the personality and drive you can start out in the specialty areas, but it really can be tough. It may have more to do with the specialty than the experience, though. I've seen some nurses with experience not do well in the ED.

Any new grad experience is tough....ICU, ER, med-surg. Talk to any new grad med surg nurse that they will tell you it's the toughest job they've had in their life. Same with any new grad ICU and ER nurse...they'll say the same thing. That first year is tough no matter where you go.

[uscstu4lfe]

No way!!! Life is too short to be stuck for 6 months - 12 months in anarea you are not required to be in, but yet some still "recommend it." You'll learn all of the things you need to learn in whatever area you choose to go into. People from my school went straight into ICU, L&D, or wherever. It's up to you! Have fun!