Why is Med-Surg so hated?

Specialties Med-Surg

Updated:   Published

Whenever I have told a fellow newer grad that I want to work in a hospital, they ask 'where?' And I say 'probably Med-Surg' and then they crinkle their nose. I just want to get my start in acute care and heard that's a good place to start. One of this area's hospital groups seems to have such a hard time hanging on to RNs willing to work in Med-Surg, that they will pay *experienced* RNs several dollars more per hour than in more sought after specialties. Is Med -Surg really so terrible or different from other acute care floors?

Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
la_chica_suerte85 said:
I've seen this a lot, too and it especially gets touted by some of the nurses that float to the med-surg floors I've been on. I think there's a certain degree of "flash" and status that comes with being in a specialty but with Med-Surg, you have to be all things to all people. The time management, the total care pts (i.e. you are the sole caregiver -- no PCT, no CNA, no one to help you), the range of diseases/syndromes and everything else requires someone who has a broad knowledge base and excellent organization skills. I don't really get where this idea came from, though. I can see the excitement with higher acuity and maybe the more complex med admin and assessment but you really have to be on your toes in Med-Surg just as much. At the end of the day, anywhere is a good place to start. Experience is the most valuable thing.

Med/Surg IS a specialty. Nobody seems to realize that. ?

Any floor can and will be awful, with high rates of burnout, if staffing is sub par. Again, it's NOT med/surg that is horrible, it is what management does to med/surg that is so terribly wrong.

3 Votes
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
perfexion said:
Ditto. I hated my med-surg rotation in nursing school and I vowed to never return there. I have been working in OB my entire career. I'll admit there are serious disadvantages to never having worked med-surg. Every once in a while we get a pregnant patient with a trach or a PICC or some disease like MS or CF and I have no idea what to do with her. That happened to me just this week actually. But those are few and far between and overall doesn't make me regret never doing med-surg. If anything I just avoid those types of assignments. I maintain to this day that had I done med-surg straight out of school I would've quit nursing all together.

It isn't for everyone ?

1 Votes
Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
tokmom said:
It isn't for everyone ?

I wish my management would come to terms with this. True, med-surg isn't for everyone, but if conditions were made so that nurses didn't feel so overworked with high patient ratios to boot, then perhaps they can keep nurses for more than a year or two. They don't seem to be interested in fixing the retention problem in any concrete or substantive way. Staff turnover is incredibly high. Two new nurses are hired and three experienced ones leave. There are no incentives to stay on for any reasonable length of time to recoup the expense of orienting new nurses. They think free food and endless thank you's are going to keep staff but that is just a Band-Aid to the real problem. The staff nurse needs to be empowered with more than that. So even if med-surg is not a nurse's thing forever, you can make it so it is for at least more than a little while. Everyone in management has at some point moved on from prior specialties into something that was a better opportunity for them, including their management roles. Why then not support the nurse who chooses the same as opposed to being mad at them for leaving and contributing to staff reduction? If staff is unhappy, do something real with working conditions to encourage people to stay more than the bare minimum.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

2 Votes
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
Paco-RN said:
I wish my management would come to terms with this. True, med-surg isn't for everyone, but if conditions were made so that nurses didn't feel so overworked with high patient ratios to boot, then perhaps they can keep nurses for more than a year or two. They don't seem to be interested in fixing the retention problem in any concrete or substantive way. Staff turnover is incredibly high. Two new nurses are hired and three experienced ones leave. There are no incentives to stay on for any reasonable length of time to recoup the expense of orienting new nurses. They think free food and endless thank you's are going to keep staff but that is just a Band-Aid to the real problem. The staff nurse needs to be empowered with more than that. So even if med-surg is not a nurse's thing forever, you can make it so it is for at least more than a little while. Everyone in management has at some point moved on from prior specialties into something that was a better opportunity for them, including their management roles. Why then not support the nurse who chooses the same as opposed to being mad at them for leaving and contributing to staff reduction? If staff is unhappy, do something real with working conditions to encourage people to stay more than the bare minimum.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

True that. I had this epiphany after I returned to work after being gone for 5 years. I was totally burned out. When I finally worked in a hospital with an amazing supportive environment, I realized it wasn't med/surg I hated, but the lack of staff and poor working conditions.

I now work in a hospital that is VERY supportive of med/surg in general. We have travelers that actually stay with us. We do lose nurses who leave for their dream jobs, but that's the way it should be. That's normal behavior.

When I said that med/surg isn't for everyone, I will still say it isn't. Nurses will always leave and even if some had grand working conditions and amazing teams, they would still leave if they found med/surg not exciting enough.

2 Votes
Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

My experience as a floor nurse was on a neuro/ENT floor. During that time, when our census was low, I floated fairly frequently to other floors--ortho/bariatric, surg onc, heme onc/BMT, solid organ transplant, tele, and med surg. I honestly didn't think med surg was a worse place to work than any of the other floors. Sure there were times I felt stretched thin, but that can happen anywhere. The variety in med-surg was really interesting, and the nurses were amazing. Nurse-pt ratios were about the same as other floors too. Neuro was kind of my first love, and most people don't love floating, but otherwise I did enjoy floating to med-surg.

1 Votes
Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Oh, and I do think it's a great place to start, because you will see close to everything.

1 Votes
Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
tokmom said:
Med/Surg IS a specialty. Nobody seems to realize that. ?

Any floor can and will be awful, with high rates of burnout, if staffing is sub par. Again, it's NOT med/surg that is horrible, it is what management does to med/surg that is so terribly wrong.

THIS.

There is a certification in M/S for a reason; there are plenty if nurses I know who have their certifications in M/S.

Any specialty can be rife with issues if staffing and management is sub-par or the culture of the unit isn't a fit; once any nurse can find that fit, they may have a niche for a time until they get to another destination, or they invest their time in that specialty.

2 Votes

It may not have the sex appeal as an ER or ICU but I see it as a great learning experience. It is a great place to cut your teeth and learn time management and develop your assessment skills. I also think it is a good place to start so you can get your "stupid questions" answered. Not that I believe that questions are stupid but as a new nurse you feel that your questions are stupid at times. I wanted L&D so badly but in the few months I have been on a med/surg floor I have learned a lot and I know what has been learned will be carried over and applied extensively. I am staying humble and grateful for what I have.

2 Votes

I work med surg and like it. But yes it is all time management! We get 6pts and if something happens to one calling a rrt or something like a doctor writing 3 pages of orders it can take up a lot of your time and put you behind! Or they give a crappy assignment like all total care pts.

1 Votes
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Yikes, six is a lot of patients for med/surg. I remember when typical pt's were laminectomies, broken bones, and COPD. Pt's are so much sicker now than they were back in the 80's when I first started as an RN. Our max is five, but usually runs 3-4 pt's with two CNA's.

1 Votes

Everyone wants to start in their speciality. Work a med-surg floor for a couple of years though and you'll be able to go anywhere!

2 Votes
Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
cs1031rn said:
Everyone wants to start in their speciality. Work a med-surg floor for a couple of years though and you'll be able to go anywhere!

This is starting to become antiquated advice I fear. Lots of job announcements I have seen for specialized nursing units want specific experience in the specialty and med-surg experience does not seem to necessarily equate. ER wants ER experience, L&D wants L&D experience, ICU wants ICU or critical care experience, etc. Almost feels like if you start out in med-surg you risk getting stuck there. Just saying this because I have tried several times to transition to these kind of jobs with med-surg tele experience, have a great interview only to have someone with specialty experience grab the job. Where then can I get the experience if not given the chance? I will keep trying though, cant give up.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

1 Votes
+ Add a Comment