Starting New Job in Med/Surg

[bookscrapper]

I just accepted an offer for a night shift position on a Med/Surg/Onco floor in Southern New Mexico.

I was never a fan of med/surg during nursing school so I'm a little nervous/anxious.

I know it will be a great experience where I can learn a lot about different disease processes and a lot of different procedures and techniques. I eventually want to get into NICU/Perinatal nursing.

I meet with HR tomorrow morning to do some paperwork and figure out when I start hospital orientation.

I'd love to hear any of your advice or suggestions for starting a new job in med/surg.

[westieluv]

Congratulations on your new job! :) I have worked Med/Surg for many years and here are some things that I think will make your job easier.

First, have some kind of med sheet for writing down all of your meds and times that they are due. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, I just draw a grid on the back of my report sheet and label the boxes in the far left column for each patient room number. Then, I label the boxes across the top for each hour of the shift and put a line in each box for when a med is due for a specific patient. I rarely ever miss giving a med because of this system. I have seen nurses go check their patients' MARs repeatedly to see when their next med is due because they don't write them down anywhere, but to me, that is a huge time waster and a good way to miss doses. One of the first things that I do after I get out of report is get the patients' MARs and write down all of their meds in this fashion. That way, that part of the shift is under control and I can plan my care accordingly.

Second, have a good report sheet to write your patient information on, one that is organized and has specific places for each piece of information such as diagnosis, diet, activity, labs, tests, etc. It is so stressful trying to give report to the next shift when you don't have the information written down in an organized manner, and you're bound to miss pertinent information if you don't.

Third, and possibly most importantly, cut yourself some slack. Don't expect to be perfect coming out of the gate, and don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake. There isn't a nurse alive who hasn't made mistakes, so give yourself a break when you do and consider it a learning curve. Don't let the other shifts make you feel stupid or inadequate if you weren't able to get to something, stand up for yourself and believe in yourself.

Good luck!