Published Mar 11, 2010
northmississippi
455 Posts
I'm still in prenursing,,but i was looking at our hospitals website and they had a job for a nurse in "general medicine".... what would be a few of the duties a nurse in this field be?
thanks.
roser13, ASN, RN
6,504 Posts
Is this a hospital-based position or office-based?
It is inside the main hospital here, which is a rather large place. The posting didnt say anything else.
April, RN, BSN, RN
1,008 Posts
A general medicine floor would be just like a med/surg floor... just without the surgical patients. The duties of a nurse in general medicine would be the same as a nurse on any other floor. Meds, dressing changes, pt education, etc. The types of patients you get will vary somewhat depending on the size of the hospital and how many specialty units there are. For example, you may not see many MIs if your hospital has a cardiac unit. However, you can (and will) see everything and anything in general medicine. Some diagnoses you might see on a general medicine floor would be GI bleeds, lots of respiratory problems, cancer, drug and alcohol withdrawal related issues, lots of wounds, diabetes, influenza. You will learn about many different meds, trachs, NG tubes, foleys. I think general medicine is a good place for a new grad to start off in. There's lots to learn there.
guest2210
400 Posts
General medicine encompasses anything that does not fit on a specified unit, i.e. in addition to what the previous poster stated, strokes, diabetes, fever of unknown origin, abd. pain, a hodge podge of ailments and illnesses where the etiology needs to be determined. A great learning experience.