Thinking of switching from pcu to med/surg

[Mami.RN, MSN, RN]

So I have been almost a nurse for a year at my current floor which is cardiac progressive care. I was also a cna there for a year prior. I am currently working night shift and I must leave because I want to switch a days position. Whats avaiable? Well of course, only a medical/surgical/ortho floor?

I'm really considering it. Some of my co-workers think I'm nuts. But in reality some times our patients are critical and at times we have 5 pts. It can be overwhelming.

So basically I am asking, would you switch?

How is typical med/surg floor? How many pts do you have?

I know ppl say med/surg is hard but is it harder than progressive care where you are on top of these pts because they are constantly changing in status.

Im scared to mak the switch but I want to live a semi normal life. I get no sleep with a family.

If you read all this you are awesome and tganjs for responding.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Is there a day shift Med/Surg position specifically posted? Most day shift slots are filled by folks already on the unit and new folks get slotted into nights. Make sure that, if you're going to transfer, you actually get slotted into day shift.

Personally, I would not switch to get on day shift. If I liked my job, I'd put my name on the list to transfer to Days when a slot was available. But I'm not really enamored of day shift, and I do love cardiac.

Med/Surg is a wonderful place to get experience, and you can learn a lot. That's a very good reason to do Med/Surg. But if you're doing it just for a shift change, make sure you'd actually GET the shift you're aiming for.

[bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN]

I'm a day shift med surg nurse and would advise against switching if you like your current unit.

I have 6 patients, normally at least half are total cares. I've had a patient come back from surgery within an hour of anesthesia and I have to call a rapid due to declining condition (on multiple occasions I might add). I'm constantly being pulled in all directions because it is day shift and all the drs and managers are there (if you don't like management being around I would advise against day shift on any unit). Plus day shift does ALL of the discharges at my facility so I'm doing paperwork for at least 1-2 of my patients normally and tend to get new admissions to replace them within a few hours.

Med-surg is very busy and you juggle a lot of things. If the ICU is full we will get the semi-critical patients that typically would have gone to ICU but they don't have beds for them. We still keep the 6:1 ratio even with these patients. The only thing med-surg won't take in my facility if vents and certain titration drips.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

Depends on the ratio on med/surg versus pcu.

Could you switch to med/ surg and transfer back to pcu when a day shift opens up?

[caffeinatednurse, BSN, RN]

I work med-surg (7p-7a). I have to say, Med-Surg (days) is a completely different beast from Med-Surg (nights). The nurses and NAs are expected to care for the same amount of patients as we do on nights, all the while dealing with 10x more. At my hospital, that's 6 patients per nurse. We're lucky if we have 2 nurse aides on days (for a 36 bed unit). We're blessed if we have 3.

I personally love nights, and will not be going over to days any time soon. But if I were you, I would ask to be put on a waiting list for your current unit.