What does med/sug. nursing entail?

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Mar 7, 2003

1 year of med/surg experience is totally dependant on the facility. I have friends that graduated with me last spring that went straight into ER, ICU, Burn units without the 1 year experience. There are others that do make that requirement.

On med/surg you will get the gammet,, from gastroenteritis, GI bleeds, acute abdomens of unknown origin, pneumonia to complex surgicals(both pre or post operative) as well as anything else you may be able to think of. It is good all around experience. You either love the fast pace or you hate it since a lot of med/surg floors have a fast turn around of patients admitted and discharged.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 7, 2003

Med-surg is a crash course in nursing, and probably the best place to start since you get to see almost everything there is! You can go just about anywhere with a solid med-surg background. Good luck.

SingingNurse2 · Mar 7, 2003

So how exactly were everyone's med-surg clinicals? I have heard they are really bad! :eek: :confused: :chair: :bluecry1:

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Mar 7, 2003

Mine werent the best in the world for sure. Luckily i had LPN experience when i was in RN school so i gave up a lot so others could have it.

But, we have students on my floor now and i try very hard to make sure they get as much procedure experience as i can, including taking things to the instructor and asking her if there is a student that needs this experience and if they have time or would like to do it. That is the only way to a successful med/surg experience.

I have asked the instructor if the student could do the procedure with my oversight, i have students coming to me asking about their documentation. I try to make sure i dont take away from my patients, but only by having people working on the floor that students can feel they can come to without being judged will they succeed.

It must be working because when they come in the day before to get their paperwork they always ask if im going to be there the next day.:) I dont have a taste for new nurses, i prefer pizza.

RN2B4SUR · Mar 7, 2003

damn Meowsmile....wish I had you as a nurse to work with. My first clinical was hectic and we got little input from the RNs on staff. Just do the dirty work and stay out of my way pretty much.

peaceful2100, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2003

I LOVED my med-surg clinical because that was one clinical I learned the most from. Of course I only had 1 primary patient and I shared another patient with another student so that was really easy for me to say I LOVE med-surg. If I had 14 patients I may think other wise. I am graduating in May and debating about whether or not I should start in Med-Surg first or not. IF I can get a Job in NICU then I won't. If I can't get a job in NICU then I probably will just because I feel that I may need that knowledge base. I am commitment to a hospital for 2 years after graduation and the hospitals serve adults and pre-mature babies no pediatric patients. If I have to end up in Med-surg I am going to go into it with a postive outlook knowing that it will open the doors for many wonderful opportunities. If I specialize too quickly and then find out I don't like it then I am stuck without the med-surg experience. I have a lot to think about.

delirium · Mar 9, 2003

I had a great time in my med-surg clinicals, nasty unit secretaries notwithstanding.

We take 5-6 patients each.

I even did my first NG tube the other day. That was, uh, interesting.

nurse0977 · Mar 12, 2003

I am currently in nursing school and I LOVE my med-surg rotation. I too heard bad things about med-surg, but it has been our best clinical yet. I think your clinical instructor makes all the difference. Also.....if nobody has told you this, ask to do/see things, and people usually accomodate. You can't be shy and get any experience.

If it makes any difference, I will probably go into med-surg when I get out to get some great experience and sharpen my skills. I think going into an ICU situation without med-surg experience would be cheating yourself.

One more thought.....are you at a teaching hospital? With my rotation, we are at a teaching hosptial and the nurses are wonderful with students!

deespoohbear · Mar 12, 2003

Originally posted by SingingNurse2
So how exactly were everyone's med-surg clinicals? I have heard they are really bad! :chair:

Mine were so long ago I can't remember. :eek:

Seriously I have worked med-surg for 8 years. I don't ever regret starting out in med-surg. You will definitely learn organization skills and obtain a large working knowledge of many disease processes. If you are not sure what area of nursing you want to specialize med-surg is probably a good place to start. If you know for sure that you want to do Ob-Gyn, NICU or something like that I am not sure how much help med-surg will be for you. Don't be scared of your med-surg clinical. It may not be as bad as you fear and you might even end up enjoying that rotation. Med-Surg nurses are usually very well rounded and very knowledgeable about a lot of different areas. Best wishes.

clhsunfire · Mar 14, 2003

Med surg can be a good learning experience if you have the right teacher. My first clinical rotation in med surg was great cause i had a great instructor and cool nurses to wor with. On my second med surg rotation it sucked , my instructor hated me and never explained anyting to me, she expected me to do and know everytning, not willing to help and she made the nurses see as a dumb nursing student - very upsetting. I graduate this May 2003, and I would rather work on a pediatric unit or I am also interested in dialysis nursing.

Christine

Helori · Mar 15, 2003

Whenever people ask me what floor I work on. I tell them the med-surg floor and they just stare at me and ask what that is. Usually I explain it as everything under the sun. Literally, you can get every diagnosis, every age range. You can learn so much there.

As for clinicals, my med-surg clinicals were awful. Bad nusring instructor, nurses who didn't like our instructor and therefore didn't want to help us as much as they could have. After the clincal was over we actually complained about the instructor and...well...she doesn't teach clincals anymore. But I guess I should be greatful. Because I hated the clincal so much and felt like I didn't learn a thing there I asked to consolidate in med-surg for more experience and I loved it! Now three years I'm still working on the floor I consolidated on and loving it (even the bad days)!