Diverse practice settings, diverse patients and diverse nurses—all make for a very diverse and interesting career for medical-surgical nurses, such as Kathleen Reeves, MSN, RN, CNS, CMSRN. Reeves is the president of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) and an assistant professor/clinical in the school of nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San
Antonio (UTHSCSA).
Reeves explains that med-surg nursing involves keeping up with continual changes in technology, medications and processes, and offers insights into the specialty to NurseZone.com.
What do you enjoy most about med-surg nursing?
I enjoy the diversity of practice settings, the diversity of
patients I encounter, and the diversity of nurses I work with in the rewarding
specialty of medical-surgical nursing. I enjoy the challenge of staying current on
the continual changes in clinical practice—based on evidence and research—new
technologies, new medications and new organizational processes.
What can a new nurse in the med-surg specialty expect in
the first few months on the job?
Like most other areas of nursing, a new graduate should expect
a reasonable orientation with an experienced preceptor. He or she will perform multiple psychomotor skills. But, more importantly, the new nurse can expect to develop critical-thinking skills when applying didactic content to clinical practice.
Another thing a new med-surg nurse in this specialty can expect to develop is excellent assessment skills, as well as priority setting and organizational skills.
I find that new med-surg nurses are often very hard on themselves. They may not recognize a deteriorating patient’s condition right away, but the new graduate has never experienced the situation before. It is essential to have a solid preceptorship and recognize when
assistance is needed.
Lastly, new grads can expect to experience some degree of reality shock and stress. I would like them to know this is normal. They should talk to mentors, former classmates, and current nurses who can help them through this. I would encourage all new nurses to find healthy stress management
techniques and do not forget to have fun. To read more on how to create a successful long-term career, click here
What is the most challenging thing about being a new med-surg
nurse?
Initially, developing priority-setting and organizational
skills when managing the care of multiple patients is sometimes quite
challenging for new med-surg nurses. New graduates sometimes have difficulties
differentiating urgent from non-urgent events. I also think that some of the new
graduates experience difficulty in spending less time with each patient somewhat
challenging, at least initially.
What advice can you offer a student nurse or new graduate looking for a job
in med-surg nursing?
I would encourage him or her to find a position in a facility
that values nursing excellence in all specialties, including medical-surgical
nursing. I would encourage them to ask nurses working in their prospective
healthcare facility the following questions:
Does the facility recognize
nursing excellence?
Is there a clinical ladder? Is certification promoted and
rewarded? Is evidence-based practice expected and
supported? Is there a healthy work environment? Do the nurses feel valued? Do
the nurses enjoy working there? Would they encourage their own families to seek
that facility for health care? How long is the orientation/preceptorship is on the medical-surgical units, and who would be serving as a preceptor? Is a mentor program available?
To get all kinds of insight into the specialty, I would encourage the new graduates to access the information available on the AMSN’s Web site to help them in their practice and
to e-mail us their questions and concerns.
I wish student nurses and new grads considering the med-surg profession much success: This type of surgical nursing is challenging, yet extremely rewarding!
For more information, visit the AMSN Web site.
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