Ok my fellow nurses! I have been a nurse for almost 6 years and have no Med surge experience in a hospital . I have worked in Hospitals doing other things. Can I just go into med surge with no experience? Just jump right in? Feel like I need it 🤷‍♀️
Sorry. Think any hospital med surf would appreciate your willingness to learn and welcome you
Hi. First let me say that every patient, regardless of the specialty unit they are admitted to, is a Med/Surg patient. Patients, no matter the specialty need will have either hypertension, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, etc. The latest term for Med/Surg nursing is Acute Care. You have choices. You can sign up with a nursing agency, and they will assist you with skills teaching and validation for a Med/Surg assignment or you can apply to a Medical Center that has a Acute Care unit. Let them know how much orientation you might need. And being comfortable with drawing blood and starting I.V.' is a real plus. Right now hospitals are hurting for staff. This is your time to shine. Sending positive thoughts your way.
You’re an infusion nurse now? So am
I! I love it —home infusion. I have been nursing for 19 years though and I don’t feel the need for any new experiences in nursing. I’ll never go back to “institution” nursing again!
You have absolutely nothing to lose. Ask and you shall receive! Be bold! I started from nursing home. I went to hospital without any experience. I learned a lot. Learn all you can while young!
You are welcome. Put your roller skates on.
Med Surg is the place to start as a new RN graduate, so you are already coming with experience. A Med-Surg unit will teach you all the basics of nursing as well as help with your time management and prioritization skills. You will run your butt off, but you will feel ready to move to a more specialized area after a year or two. Good Luck
I recommend trying to get the med surgical nurse experience..it opens up more opportunities
Med/surg would be a good place to start if you need experience but I would also analyze what your future goals are for your career. Some hospitals do have residency programs that are not just for new nurses but could also be available to nurses that may have no experience in the hospital setting. If your wanting to get into the ICU or ER I would ask if they offer residencies there and jump right in as long as it's a good fit.
Jump right in!! Its the best foundation for a new nursing position. Medsurg is where you find out what you like and what you don’t like in nursing. Medsurg sets a solid learning experience for things like disease process, iv therapy, medication administration and so many other things you will need to be an amazing nurse. In a year or two then move on to the specialty you do like! Good luck! Enjoy your new career!
Greetings to all the nurses. I think some hospitals offer residency to new nurses which will get them ready on any unit they desire to work. You just need to be good with IV thanks
Mary Alice,
Where do you want to work? Do you want Med/Surg then go ICU? It depends what makes you happy( good work life balance).
Hospitals are not same as they were 15 years ago. “ Do more with less philosophy.” I agree with a previous response, do not settle.
You can absolutely just jump right in to Med Surg!
I would say, as long as the hospital has a “training” position available you should pick what you want. Don’t feel like you need med/surg first. It does give you a view into what the m/s nurses are dealing with but I don’t think it’s really necessary with your exprerience.
I started in ER as an RN. Then I went to tele, moved to a rural area and had difficulty getting a hospital job and settled for med/surg. Once there, I felt bored but had difficulty going back to critical care. Med/surg nursing is extremely taxing. I feel pretty burnt out and am moving to Infusion now! Looking so forward to getting out of floor nursing. It’s your market right now as nurses are in huge demand. My advice is ask for what you want and don’t settle. You have so much experience for med/surg if that’s what you want.
What are the “other things” you have experience in?
I think.
Yes you can.
Yes, absolutely. You will actually be starting with an advantage because you do have some experience. Most new RN's start out in med/surg with zero experience just like I did. I actually suggest it for new grads because you learn so much about so many different areas of nursing.
Med surg is desperate for help. They will take any warm body with a degree. They hire new grads all the time. They hired me straight out of school on a neuro stroke unit which ended up being more of a step down unit. We were med surg plus all the strokes and Covid pts (if they were not in the vent)
