The hospital I wanted to work for only had nights for med surg/tele, so I happily took a renal clinic position. First interview and I got the job offer, with good pay. I really don’t care where I start I just wanted a job ASAP!
working on an adult med surge unit right now and we're having a HUGE turnover among nurses and techs. I strongly agreed with what Alex said about burnout being so huge on these kinds of units. had the same exact thought process before applying to other places, thinking "this is it ? this can't be it ): " ready to leave healthcare all together. I'm gonna be switching to peds med surge soon and can't wait for the new environment!!! strongly encourage everyone to have confidence in yourselves and chase whatever end goal is yours, don't listen to these people telling you to do 1-2+ years in one designated area !!
I started in GI/Endoscopy 🙂 Yes, I graduated in 2021 and they did tell us Med Surg was where to start BUT once I applied to my hospital they offered me a residency program wherever I wanted. I chose Endo without residency and I'm still there.
I have just started a 2 year RN program in a rural area. My goal is to do this as a second career/career change. It is affordable, and my goal is to be a travel nurse. My question is (and I k ow the answer), will I absolutely need to attain my BSN online? That's the plan. Get out of school, work while getting that online. Do you have any sage advice you can offer? Thank you!
im going icu straight out the gate, if you work icu you can work most any department. plus icu nursing is mandatory for some higher level credentials such as CRNA, other nursing experience doesnt count. plus I have found that many hospitals dont like to transfer people in other departments such as palliative, wound care, or med surge to icu
Great video Alex! Your long-form vids are getting better and better, so keep going! This one seems pretty on point. I started in adult Med-Surg. I personally was never told in school that I could not get an ICU job. I WAS told that they were often harder to get into as a new grad, and I think this is true ish. Mostly because ICU has less turn over. And it probably depends on the ICU. Try a bigger hospital. I’ve worked with a lot of ICU new grads🎉 And everyone is hiring right now, so chances are even better. Overall there are things I own from my med-surg experience that have behooved my ICU practices. Won’t lie tho. It was a TERRIBLE experience. 8:1 daily. I drowned. And cried. And drowned. But I learned my foundational skills in non-critical situations, and I learned to navigate a hospital environment and culture without the added stress of dying patients to keep alive. Oh, and time management! I may generally have a leg up on this one compared to nurses that started in ICU. And I definitely have an easier time when I get floated to stepdown or something. In the end though, you will learn your skills wherever you land, so it’s not at all necessary to start on the floor. If you don’t want to be on super high alert about your patients’ aliveness, or if you are the kind of person who gets flustered and freezes under pressure, or you want more experience to feel confident before handling more critical responsibility, med surg may be a good idea. A year tops if you’re goal is to change it up tho! Don’t get stuck unless you love it. Also consider Stepdown. Better ratios. Caution: if you are a new grad going into med surg, along with other good interview questions, DO ask about ratios in your interview. Do NOT trust the interviewer’s BS answer that their ratios have been poor lately but they’re currently hiring more RNs to get better ratios - they ALWAYS are hiring, that’s why you are being interviewed. If ratios are poor, that means they can’t keep up with their turn over, which is a bad sign. DO ask other nurses that work on that unit what the ratios are like and what ancillary help you have and about the general environment. How many nurses have left the unit in the last 2 months? (bear in mind Med-surg has high turnover rates, but if a third have left at once, big flag) how long has that nurse worked there? How soon is that nurse planning to leave! Don’t accept a position with 7-8 adult patients as a new grad. Experienced nurses can decide how masochistic they wanna be. But baby nurses, just don’t. For me, boo. And you too! Oh, and if you find you landed somewhere and you are drowning and no one is helping you problem solve your processes, and your manager isn’t checking on you frequently, and the nurses around you are also drowning, and you leave an hour late every night, TURN IN YOUR NOTICE! You WILL get hired elsewhere. Everyone wants nurses. I gotchyou. K bye.
I disagree. As a nurse of 35 years you need to have the basics down before going to another are. You need to be a seasoned nurse first. I would not want a new grad taking care of me or my family in an ICU unit. I have worked with new grads who don’t even know how to make a bed or insert a foley.
So true! Actually there should be a hierarchy. Everyone should start as cna or techs then entry level nursing then rn. I am glad I did cna, lpn then rn. So many new grads do not know blood pressures, apical pulse, caths, and even sliding scale insulin. When I did preceptorship in icu, I had a new grad as preceptor....my 23 year old charge nurse in med surg dismissed a patient who audibly was gurgling, their nurse went and sat down, I was like wtf and then the pt had to go to icu for aspiration! Some nurses are dangerous because they either do not have the skills but also because they just don't care.....
I read the requirements to get into a nursing program at my local community College - to do prequistes like Anatomy, Physiology, are Microbiology and Chemistry could be a such a hurdle. Plus you got to taka a entrance exam. Followed by that admission isn't guaranteed because it a random lottery selection to get it
I’m very thankful for the school I went to. They really teach you how to be a nurse. I came out of my program so prepared compared to other school new grads.
That can also depend on what the individual takes from their program. Also they clinical site and instructors you end up with can vary drastically on how many skills you get to practice on real patients.
A class of about 10 from your nursing program and 1 clinical instructor go to a hospital unit and basically work along side the nurses. You care for patients, pass meds, do nursing skills.
I love how hospitals are offering residencies for nurses who want to go directly to ER or ICU
The hospital I wanted to work for only had nights for med surg/tele, so I happily took a renal clinic position. First interview and I got the job offer, with good pay. I really don’t care where I start I just wanted a job ASAP!
working on an adult med surge unit right now and we're having a HUGE turnover among nurses and techs. I strongly agreed with what Alex said about burnout being so huge on these kinds of units. had the same exact thought process before applying to other places, thinking "this is it ? this can't be it ): " ready to leave healthcare all together. I'm gonna be switching to peds med surge soon and can't wait for the new environment!!! strongly encourage everyone to have confidence in yourselves and chase whatever end goal is yours, don't listen to these people telling you to do 1-2+ years in one designated area !!
I started in GI/Endoscopy 🙂 Yes, I graduated in 2021 and they did tell us Med Surg was where to start BUT once I applied to my hospital they offered me a residency program wherever I wanted. I chose Endo without residency and I'm still there.
I have just started a 2 year RN program in a rural area. My goal is to do this as a second career/career change. It is affordable, and my goal is to be a travel nurse. My question is (and I k ow the answer), will I absolutely need to attain my BSN online? That's the plan. Get out of school, work while getting that online. Do you have any sage advice you can offer? Thank you!
im going icu straight out the gate, if you work icu you can work most any department. plus icu nursing is mandatory for some higher level credentials such as CRNA, other nursing experience doesnt count. plus I have found that many hospitals dont like to transfer people in other departments such as palliative, wound care, or med surge to icu
Great video Alex! Your long-form vids are getting better and better, so keep going! This one seems pretty on point. I started in adult Med-Surg. I personally was never told in school that I could not get an ICU job. I WAS told that they were often harder to get into as a new grad, and I think this is true ish. Mostly because ICU has less turn over. And it probably depends on the ICU. Try a bigger hospital. I’ve worked with a lot of ICU new grads🎉 And everyone is hiring right now, so chances are even better. Overall there are things I own from my med-surg experience that have behooved my ICU practices. Won’t lie tho. It was a TERRIBLE experience. 8:1 daily. I drowned. And cried. And drowned. But I learned my foundational skills in non-critical situations, and I learned to navigate a hospital environment and culture without the added stress of dying patients to keep alive. Oh, and time management! I may generally have a leg up on this one compared to nurses that started in ICU. And I definitely have an easier time when I get floated to stepdown or something. In the end though, you will learn your skills wherever you land, so it’s not at all necessary to start on the floor.
If you don’t want to be on super high alert about your patients’ aliveness, or if you are the kind of person who gets flustered and freezes under pressure, or you want more experience to feel confident before handling more critical responsibility, med surg may be a good idea. A year tops if you’re goal is to change it up tho! Don’t get stuck unless you love it. Also consider Stepdown. Better ratios. Caution: if you are a new grad going into med surg, along with other good interview questions, DO ask about ratios in your interview. Do NOT trust the interviewer’s BS answer that their ratios have been poor lately but they’re currently hiring more RNs to get better ratios - they ALWAYS are hiring, that’s why you are being interviewed. If ratios are poor, that means they can’t keep up with their turn over, which is a bad sign. DO ask other nurses that work on that unit what the ratios are like and what ancillary help you have and about the general environment. How many nurses have left the unit in the last 2 months? (bear in mind Med-surg has high turnover rates, but if a third have left at once, big flag) how long has that nurse worked there? How soon is that nurse planning to leave! Don’t accept a position with 7-8 adult patients as a new grad. Experienced nurses can decide how masochistic they wanna be. But baby nurses, just don’t. For me, boo. And you too! Oh, and if you find you landed somewhere and you are drowning and no one is helping you problem solve your processes, and your manager isn’t checking on you frequently, and the nurses around you are also drowning, and you leave an hour late every night, TURN IN YOUR NOTICE! You WILL get hired elsewhere. Everyone wants nurses. I gotchyou. K bye.
This is sooo 💯 ❤Medsurg almost changed my mind about nursing completely.
Med surg was horrible. Hated working there. i was getting 7-8 patients everyday. I still don't like nursing. this ain't my dream.....
LVN nope never doing that
I disagree. As a nurse of 35 years you need to have the basics down before going to another are. You need to be a seasoned nurse first. I would not want a new grad taking care of me or my family in an ICU unit. I have worked with new grads who don’t even know how to make a bed or insert a foley.
So true! Actually there should be a hierarchy. Everyone should start as cna or techs then entry level nursing then rn. I am glad I did cna, lpn then rn. So many new grads do not know blood pressures, apical pulse, caths, and even sliding scale insulin. When I did preceptorship in icu, I had a new grad as preceptor....my 23 year old charge nurse in med surg dismissed a patient who audibly was gurgling, their nurse went and sat down, I was like wtf and then the pt had to go to icu for aspiration! Some nurses are dangerous because they either do not have the skills but also because they just don't care.....
This an unpopular opinion but I agreaa
24 years ago it was the same story . 🤦🏻♀️
that's so sad! people are so terrible to each other by design
I read the requirements to get into a nursing program at my local community College - to do prequistes like Anatomy, Physiology, are Microbiology and Chemistry could be a such a hurdle. Plus you got to taka a entrance exam. Followed by that admission isn't guaranteed because it a random lottery selection to get it
I’m very thankful for the school I went to. They really teach you how to be a nurse. I came out of my program so prepared compared to other school new grads.
which school/program did you attend??
Oh really! Good for you, Margarita!! I guess you are one of the lucky ones
That can also depend on what the individual takes from their program. Also they clinical site and instructors you end up with can vary drastically on how many skills you get to practice on real patients.
what school? and what should one look into their school?
@@AstroZombie1 this is very true
I loved this video within the first few seconds. SO many people are lied to ... medsrg is not the end all be all. No wonder people are quitting
lol love how civilian nurses complain, wait till you see military nursing, even worst
Yea you can go into anything
Love your videos!!!❤❤❤❤
That's so true!!!
what are clinicals?
It’s like a class in nursing school Where you work under a medical professional to get experience before working with real patients
A class of about 10 from your nursing program and 1 clinical instructor go to a hospital unit and basically work along side the nurses. You care for patients, pass meds, do nursing skills.
Follow you on insta and now I’ve found you on TH-cam!