Which unit requires the most knowledge and critical nursing skills?

Cardiac interventional telemetry unit

cardiac telemetry unit

pulmonary telemetry unit

surgical telemetry

neuro telemetry unit

which one would be most challenging for a new grad?

All of the above. Each has it's own skill set.

None of the above. Each has its own skill set.

Honestly, its the wrong question.

The real question is which of these 4 units has a good track record of orienting new grads?

A good orientation program is way more critical to your development than the specialty.

None of the above. Each has its own skill set.

Honestly, its the wrong question.

The real question is which of these 4 units has a good track record of orienting new grads?

A good orientation program is way more critical to your development than the specialty.

Amen!

Home health nursing, I've never done it. Too scary to be without the immediate back up of other nurses, doctors, respiratory therapist, etc.

Skilled nursing facilities, the time management skills, myriad of treatments and medications, and almost the same lack of back up as home health nursing.

Labor and delivery, a healthy mom and fetus can turn into a life and death situaltion in a matter of minutes.

There is no particular nursing unit that requires "the most" knowledge. Different units are challenging in different ways, but all require in depth knowledge.

Home health nursing, I've never done it. Too scary to be without the immediate back up of other nurses, doctors, respiratory therapist, etc.

Skilled nursing facilities, the time management skills, myriad of treatments and medications, and almost the same lack of back up as home health nursing.

Labor and delivery, a healthy mom and fetus can turn into a life and death situaltion in a matter of minutes.

I'm going to AMEN this one but add hospice nursing (in the home). You really are pretty much on your own so you'd better know what you're doing and be able to manage your time doing it.

Agree with the PPs. Most stepdown units will be for all the above, which i think is more common than 5 different units. It would be hard to break down this way because its less common for a patient to just have one of the above issues, they often go hand in hand.

So you must have knowledge and skills for all those areas. What happens when your pneumonia patient goes into rapid afib. You cant split up the persons conditions so it would be silly to have a separate cardiac and pulm unit.

I guess my point is stepdown is a broad area. Because these things tend to go together.

"No specialty is better or worse than any other. What determines whether or not a job is good or bad is the people who work in that specific department and the decisions they make on a routine basis."

Right. A good medsurg unit discharges patients without additional complications (see The Illness Is Bad Enough. The Hospital May Be Even Worse. - The New York Times), sparing a more specialized unit.

A good primary care office keeps people out off the medsurg unit/pulmonary/cardiac/ICU etc.

Also, consider that it's likely you could float between all of them after enough time off orientation, thus none of them are disproportionately more challenging than the other.

Any unit will be challenging to a new grad. After you graduate and pass your boards you will be a RN/LVN sure, but that doesnt equate to experience. You will still have to transition from student nurse and GN to a competent RN/LVN, which comes from experience, guidance and time.