What is a better unit to start on as a New Grad Nurse, an Progressive Care Unit (PCU), or a Med Surg Unit?

Depends on where you think you might ultimately want to be in your nursing career. Med surg was a good stepping stone for me tp get into the ER, where I’ve been the last 10 years. But PCU would allow you to not only care for “med/surg” patients but also other semi critically I’ll patients that require cardiac monitoring, drips… basically other things you may not otherwise see on the med/surg floor. If your career goals of nursing involve any critical care patients I would start with PCU.

Progressive Care. Gives you a good foundation of both med surge and critical care. If you can work there, you can work anywhere. Also sets a great foundation for entering the ICU if that sparks your interest.

New grads should always start med surg first. Learning how to manage patients without monitors teaches nurses how to see complications as they arise. New nurses learn better by listening to patients and how to visualize issues quickly.

Med Surg is such a huge part of overall nursing and that is why it is covered in school so much. I am an ED Trauma RN who in the start of my career 18 years ago worked Med Surg. It was a good foundation for learning medication, time management, and self realization. Fundamentals is necessary prior to specializing.

As a nurse leader I am looking for people who have med-surg experience. Med-surg gives you a great generalists foundation for everything else you will do in the future.

As a nurse of 47 years, I still believe that a good Med Surg background will be beneficial through out your career in most every other area of nursing. Thus, as a new grad do 2-3 years of Med-surg first.

Go where your heart’s desire. Some may argue the Med-Surg gives a new grad nursing foundation. However, some may argue that a new grad should go wherever they desire whether that be ICU, PCU etc.

Try going to a teaching hospital where you learn from a plethora of cases and get the foundation first hand. Good thing about PCU , ratios are about 3-4:1
(At least in Cali) .

It totally depends on where you want to end up. As an LPN my first job was pediatric home health care. Then I went to LTC, corrections, primary care, teaching and only later in my career did I start hospital nursing. I feel my non traditional path made me a much more rounded nurse with a knowledge base in multiple specialties. No one has to “do their time” in med surg. Every path is different.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to be when I grew
p, so I got applied, and was hired as a float nurse. I chose this route because it gave me opportunity to work on several units such as: Med-surg, Med-oncology, ICU, Emergency Department, Behavioral Health, Rehab, 4heart, and Post-op patients. It was always a suprise when you got the phone call telling you which unit you worked this evening. Sometimes you switched units mid-shift depending on unit staffing. I liked this float pool because you got a little of everything, as well as getting a feel for where your passion lies!

Go to the Progressive Care Unit, you’ll learn more and will end up being floated to Med Surg anyway.

Med Surg

Hi,
You really can starts anywhere. Depending on your interest and career goals/plans..I started in ICU as a new nurse and I have no regrets.

Med surg unit

Med surg — new grads don’t know how to care for patients, never the less critical ones. Learn the basics first and build.

Med surg

A med surg unit in order to develop organizational skills. Plus, it will be a broader variety of patients.

Med Surg is a good way to gain the experience. There is a broad range of patients with complex diseases/problems that will definitely be a great way to apply your skills and learn as you move forward. There’s always something new to learn. Hands down best to do that first before going to other units/specialities so you can be prepared.

Med surg. Definitely

The unit that’s best is the one you want to be in. If you know for a fact, you don’t want a high number of patients (walkie talkies) then PCU is your best bet.

Med Surg is good for time management skills but you can definitely learn that in PCU. PCU is good too because you can do MS/Tele or Stepdown or cross train to the ICU or ER. It’s fast paced with high acuities and turnovers.

Med-Surg is also good if you want to see beginning to end pathophysiology since a lot of those patients are frequent visitors with chronic illnesses.

Discard the idea that med-surg is mandatory for skill development. If you know what you want to do, go for it.

Medical surgical unit

Definitely a Med-surgical Unit. Working on a med-surgical unit will give you so much experience.

I think it’s a personally preference. They usually say PCU is harder but it depends on the hospital. I work Orth Trauma Med Surg and our PCU unit is way easier than my med surg floor and I get less patients. I would say go with what aligns with your goals if you’re able too. I unfortunately can’t seem to get hired anywhere in the field that I want so I accepted the first hospital job I could get and I’ve been a nurse for five years and have all the credentials they could ask for.

Med Surg Unit

Six months to a year on a Med Surg Unit is a great starting point. It allows you to master time management and prioritizing your shift. It also provides ample opportunities for refining your skills, such as Foley, NG and feeding tube placements.

I think the type of patients considered PCU level acuity varies greatly depending on which hospital you're at. I started PCU as a new grad and worked there 16 years even though I had always planned to transfer to ICU. It was a big city teaching hospital, a very intense place with an unbelievably diverse patient population. Every other unit in that hospital was based on service line, so only had 1 or 2 specialties served. We were based strictly on acuity so we saw everything! That was an unbelievable learning experience. Now that I've been traveling the past year I really appreciate having that foundation! The education was a blessing disguised as torture, lol! None of the hospitals I've been to since I left are nearly as intense or as interesting! When you interview you should ask a lot of questions about what type of patients they normally see.

Progressive Care Unit

Medical surgical unit

MS till you get your feet on the ground.

Med Surg unit

Med Surg Unit.

M

PCU- I started out in PCU and my skills and knowledge are just fine.

Med sMMed surg unit urg

Med Surg Unit

Med Surg

Med Surg

Absolutely med surg for 2-3 years. I have been a nurse for over 40 years and there has not been a day that I didn't use my med surge skills. Going directly into a PCU or a unit does not give you the same all encompassing experience.

Med Surg by far. It will educate and help to become a more well rounded RN.

Start anywhere you want to! Do not think you have to start in med surg.. Apply to a residency program and you can start in any speciality you have an interest in.

Med/Surg to gain experience. Where I work, we don't hire new grads, unless they were a cna, and a student nurse tech. Even then, new grads needs at least 3 yrs experience in med/surg before stepping into icu or pcu. You need to learn prioritization and learn all your heart rhythms and know what to look for when a patient is deteriorating

You can start in any nursing unit that interest you. Learning is an ongoing process. Personally, post-grad, I started in Med/Surg and have not regrets. It's the foundation to help branch out to other specialties. I was set-up for success. I was able to work as a travel nurse for several years after obtaining experience as a Med/Surg nurse. Best wishes.

Med surg or neurology. I started on a 33 Bed neurology ward. I had the best preceptor for 12 weeks. One of the more experienced nurses on the unit, who was going for her masters, was rude to me for unknown reasons. You maintain your professionalism no matter what burden another coworker is carrying.

You want exposure to all levels of clinical and analytical thinking as a new grad. Depending on the location and types of patients, I would ensure you sign up to do all the foleys and chest tube insertions etc. Take this time to sharpen your skills and learn critical thinking and use other veteran nurses as your resource.

Depends on your training and the area you want to make your speciality. If you lack any experience go for med-surg to acquire skills, if you did well in clinical or have experience then a progressive Care unit is for you!

I think medical unit

Med surg unit

Me surf unit

I would go with whatever you are most draw to. I started a medsurg respiratory unti/vents before I ultimately went into sdu/pcu. It was a better fit, had more acute nursing and less patient ratio. Really loved stepdown alot.

Pienso que ninguna por qué para ambas áreas una debe tener una especialidad

Pcu

Med Surg Unit

Hospice or Pallative Care in PCU but its easier to be a RNA if not a CNA for Med Surg Unit

PCU

Med Surge

If you want to ruin nursing for yourself as a career choice and banish yourself to sadness for one year then med surg.