Why Medical Surgical Nurses Rock

I have had a few interesting conversations lately about medical/surgical nurses. I work on a med/surg floor at Providence Newberg. Basically, that means we see a little bit of everything - gastrointestinal surgeries, hip and knee surgeries, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, altered mental status, alcohol withdrawal, etc. etc. The variety makes it interesting. Many of the larger hospitals might have one general med/surg floor but then they will have specialty floors - cardiac, neurology, renal. They are specialized and have more capabilities related to their specialty.

Medical/Surgical nurses can get a bad rap. I was talking to my friend the other day who is an Emergency Room physician. He joked about how after the emergency nurses bring a patient up to the med/surg floor they complain about the nurses. I have heard this before. I asked about the specific complaints. He wasn't quite sure but something along the lines of we ask too many questions, want too much information, etc. I have also heard a rumor that some intensive care nurses don't think too fondly of their med/surg counterparts. What ICU nurses do is more complex at times. I'm not sure what their beef is with us. We aren't as smart? We don't know the specific care for intubated patients? Intensive care nurses have more training but I believe there are several nurses on my floor who could become ICU nurses if that was our interest and we opted to do the training.

Here's the thing.... the medical/surgical nurses I work with are some of the smartest and strongest women I know (I'm not being sexist. We don't have any male day shift nurses). It's true, parts of our day are spent not doing complex tasks. A friend I was talking to about my job a few months back was really surprised that I take patients to the bathroom.... all the time. She assumed I could call someone else to do that. As a nurse, I am prepared to do anything to care for my patient. Guess what? That means taking them to the bathroom or cleaning them up if they can't get up and walk there themselves. I never said my job was glamorous. There is nothing that I won't do when it comes to patient care. It's the job of EVERYONE on the floor. One of the best things I did yesterday was folding clothes with a patient with mild dementia. He just wanted his room tidier.

Besides taking patients to the bathroom, medical/surgical nurses can give a med (when ordered) that can briefly stop and restart your heart, we can run an effective code, we can place nasogastric tubes, change ostomies, redress wounds, place an iv and troubleshoot with the best of them. We are resourceful, caring and funny sometimes. We can have totally inappropriate discussion over lunch and not even blink an eye. We aren't afraid to work hard, admit when we don't know the answer and look for opportunities to learn.

A few people I work with have left lately to go to other departments or hospitals - one to ICU, a couple to short stay. The great thing about nursing is if you get tired of one area, there is always something else to try. A coworker asked me if I was going to leave too. I am always open to new opportunities (year of yes and all) but I'm happy where I am right now. I get to work with wonderful people who I enjoy and respect. I get to learn new things every day. I may not have an amazing depth of knowledge of one specific condition but I am familiar with many different diagnoses and treatments. I am constantly learning and growing. I am proud to be on a medical surgical unit with some of the most amazing nurses around.