What's less busy than Med-Surg?

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I have only worked as a nurse in LTC and Med Surg so far. LTC was busy to me as far as the long med pass. With the assessments, admissions, discharges, endless charting, etc, I am finding Med Surg to be even busier. I don't completely hate it and am not expecting to transfer or get another job any time very soon, but I don't really see my self working in this area of nursing for more than a year or two. Can someone please tell me which areas of nursing might be a bit slower paced? I want to see the sunlight through the clouds...

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

I've done some LTC, Med-Surg, Acute In-patient Rehab, ER and ICU in my nursing career. I love ICU the best and it has been my niche as I've stayed in it the longest and even work in this field now as a nurse practitioner.

Going purely by your questions and answering it objectively by taking personal preference out of the equation, I'd say Acute In-patient Rehab offered the best pace and stress-free environment of all areas I've worked in. The staffing ratio is similar if slightly higher in load than Med-Surg but certainly so much less than LTC. You have time to assess your patients and provide nursing care.

Patients also stay longer (though not as long as LTC) and you build relationships with them. You are part of a team (with Physiatrist, rehab professionals - PT/OT/SLP, dietitian, social worker, neuropsychologists) and for the most part, patients graduate and leave happy. Some say Rehab Nursing is the "quality of life" profession and there's truth to that.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.

I've only worked NICU. I've never wanted to be a floor nurse due to crazy ratios and too much work. In my opinion, any type of ICU where you have fewer pateints to care for is better than floor nursing. you will still be busy but you will have 1-2 patients vs 3-5??

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