Where to start....MED SURGE???????

Up2nogood RN, RN · Nov 6, 2008

LOL....Boring? Have you ever worked on a med/surg unit (not counting clinicals)?

dottiejane30 · Nov 6, 2008

BORING???? The last thing I could describe my time on the med-surg would be boring. Yesterday I started out with 10 patients for myself an LPN and an Aide. One bipolar pt. demanding to be discharged with no discharge orders and discharging 2 others with assessing all 10 of them and checking vitals and ADL's. After lunch I have an RN come from education to have me lead in a mock code blue. Then a distraught family member of a pt. comes wanting medical information on their family member and of course stupid me forgets all the hippa stuff and am saying well let's look at his vitals and she has the records when the med-surg manager comes and sees this and about comes unglued and tells me that this is a huge hippa violation and then my floor manager comes barking and turning all colors of red and purple and then I have two calls for two new incoming patients one from dialysis via the ER for a GI bleed and another from ICU from another hospital while I'm taking these calls my LPN calls a staff emergency with a pt. bleeding out after losing about 250 to 300cc of blood. Plus there is a new patient in one of my rooms from surgery that I didn't even know about. Then when I am calling doctors for help with the bleed out one doctor says it's the others doctor's problem then that doctor tells me it's the other doctor and I'm about to start screaming. While all this is going on I have two pt. threatening to leave AMA with one pulling out his IV and another throwing stuff, another LPN is telling me to give him the Ativan which I had ready but the pt. refused. Then right at six o'clock we get a doctor to cauterize and stitch up the bleed then the dialysis nurse brings the pt. who is crying for his family and his preacher then the ambulance brings the pt from ICU that was suppose to go straight to the cath lab but because it toke so long for me to take report the pt got here too late for the cath lab. That was a little of my day and I really feel very overwhelmed! I am a very green RN just graduated in May took boards in June and started working in July after being a stay at home mom for 33 years. Med-surg to me could be called many things crazy, chaotic but NOT BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mommyX2 · Nov 6, 2008

I am on a med surg floor and while I have other interests this job is really helping me to grow. I really am starting to feel like if I can handle this, then I can handle anything. But there is no requirement that you go into Med/surg.

Melinurse · Nov 6, 2008

I did 4 years as a LPN on a med-surg floor and now that I am a RN I have chosen to move on to LTC and some agancy work. My friends keep telling me I am making a HUGE mistake by not putting in my 1 year of med-surg as a RN. I don't think I've made a mistake at all. I am going back to school in Spring for my BSN and am getting certified as a Diabetes Educator. Yet, I keep hearing how much I'll regret not doing med-surg. Personally, med-surg is NOT for everyone. I know I did not like it and knew I was not going to stay after I got my RN. I am ok with my choice and for me that is all that matters. However, you should examine your long-term goals. I would suggest putting in at least 1 year in med-surg if you do not have a clearly defined long term goal or don't know where you want to work. Hope that helps. Just my :twocents: .

R*Star*RN, BSN, RN · Nov 7, 2008

I am a new grad and have had a preceptor on med-surg for 8 weeks now. I think that med-surg is some of the most valuable experience that I've had so far, starting out. Sure, I agree that med-surg isn't for everyone however if you want to work in acute care I think the experiance is worthwhile. And it's so much different than when you were in school! I hated med-surg in school and now I actually like it.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Nov 7, 2008

What type of specialty are you interested in?

Guest296136 · Nov 7, 2008

I wanted to go to ICU right out of school, but couldn't get in so I took a med/surg oncology floor and I am very glad I did. There are so many basic skills I needed to learn, IV's, NG tubes, wound care etc. I am giving myself two years of med/surg before I specialize that way I can concentrate on the specialty and not all the basics I need to know first.

I have friends that went right to critical care and feel overwhelmed and unsure of themselves on many of the skills I have become comfortable with in just a few months.

I RN A · Nov 8, 2008

Hi, I think that I need to get some support and to see different perspectives on what I'm feeling right now. I'm graduating from BSN progam in December of this year, and I have a lot of mixed feelings. I'm happy to graduate and scarred out of my mind that I wouldn't be able to measure up and to make a good nurse. I guess, it is like some pregnant women, who are happy to have a child, but doubt their abilities to become a good mom. I've been told it is normal to feel this way. I feel so overwhelmed, and although I know that nursing is my calling, I'm doubting my self and do not know how to gain self-confidence. My classmates and I are the "partnership" students, which means that we signed a contract with a hospital for 3 years, and this hospital paid for our clinical instructors, so I'm stuck with whatever job they offer, and there are not too many choices. I worked as a student-nurse and I have tried tele- floor and ER. I love ER and can't imagine myself on a medsurg floor, but I guess, I have no choice: there 4 spots open in ER and at least 20 people from my class are going to apply. I have looked at different hospitals, which hire new grads, but it seems to be impossible to find a job in my area of interest. I do not like medsurg and I feel like I'm going to be miserable on medsurg floor. Do not see too much of a nursing shortage out there when I tried to look for a job. I don't think that a miserable nurse couldn't make a good nurse. So what do I do?

Medic2RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 8, 2008

Boring......ha, that's funny. :icon_roll

I RN A · Nov 8, 2008

Well, I think that the medsurg floor is not for everyone. It is busy, but

repetitive, as in comparison to ER, where is always something new going on. I think that you have to like what you do, and what you do depends on your pesonality type. I have been in my clinical rotations in medsurg and ICU, but I love ER, and yes, I found medsurg floor to be slow and boring: assess, give meds, more meds, call the MD, assess. To me there is no challenge in being on medsurg floor, and it is mostly organizational and time management skills. I'm on a medsurg floor in my clinicals right now. Some nurses on this floor still don't know how to put IV or foley in after being a nurse for several years, because most of the patients come with IVs and foleys from ER. I don't want to loose my skills, and be this nurse, who after 3 years of nursing is still struggling with the basic skills.

I_Scream · Nov 8, 2008

I must agree with the nurse who said that it really depend on your long-term goals, personality, and what you really want to do with your career.

Med/Surg is FAR from BORING.. you deal with a wide variety of diseases. You deal with psych, some ortho, some OB, oncology, and everything else under the sun. It is a good training ground for sure. But it is also NOT for everyone. I'd say that before you jump into your first nursing position, step back a little bit first and look at the big picture.

Sometimes we are so excited to just JUMP IN! "I wanna do ICU, I wanna do OR, I will I will I will!" but when you're already there, it's so much different. Nursing, I'd say, is one of the most challenging and difficult professions.

Find your niche. Follow your heart.