What exactly is med/surg?

[lnprid12]

I'm doing pre nursing right now and hear people complain about med/surg. What is it like working in med/surg? Is it like the ICU/ER? Sorry for my ignorance.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

Med Surg stands for Medical/Surgical. Patients on these units are typically stable patients, unlike the ICU, where patients are unstable and may need respiratory support through a ventilator. Patients on Med/surg units can have a variety of medical conditions and/or are recovering from invasive surgical procedures, but in stable condition. Most of the time they are awake and alert, and moving around, unlike ICU patients who may be sedated or too sick to get out of bed. In the ER, all sorts of patients walk into there. Patients that need to be hospitalized and patients who don't. It is the gateway to all other units, including med-surg and ICU. There is a range of patients from very critical to not critical at all.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

people complain about med-surg because nurses typically have higher patient loads related to lower acuity and patients are awake and alert and therefore demanding.

[hodgieRN]

Some nurses like working in unstable environments. Getting paged for a major trauma that will be arriving in four minutes if what some nurses live for. And, some nurses feel they will become complacent without craziness all around. It all about what makes you look forward to clocking in...