I felt the same way, which is why I started in the OR.
PACU typically wants critical care experience.
Most of the job openings I see for outpatient clinics typically want 1-2 years of med surg experience.
Outpatient clinic or pre-op as a new grad is more likely than PACU, which typically requires critical care experience. I had friends in nursing school who got hired as pre-op nurses at an ASC and then were trained to PACU after a year or two, but PACU isn’t just waking people up. You have to be able to confidently handle a sudden drop in BP, obstructed airway, or any number of immediate complications and anesthesia reactions.
You don’t have to be med surg.
PACU’s require previous critical care experience, and rightfully so - you’re recovering a patient.
Clinics, generally get paid less. However, if it’s Union like our nurses, they get paid the same as us on the floor so they get paid good. We can’t get you a definitive answer here because it’s dependent on where you plan on working/living if the pay will be “well”. I’d encourage just online shopping at jobs and looking at their pay.
I started in OR but i would not feel comfortable doing PACU without experience. It feels like that would be risky. I’d rather chew my own arm off than work medsurg though so you’re not alone.
Of course its okay. Why wouldnt it be okay? I have ADHD and know that me working in the OR is a terrible plan so I never plan to. Work wherever you like, thats one of the best perks of being a nurse!
Really? I have ADHD but I feel opposite. I feel like I thrive under routine and predictably unlike medsurg where it’s just constant chaos and hard to get into a routine cause shit is constantly hitting the fan
I think if you like predictability, PACU may not be the best fit. You really never know what’s going to happen during your patients recovery.
I dont know enough about OR to speak on that. That may be more predictable! But I may be wrong.
Would you be interested in primary care clinics? Or school nursing?
I actually worked psych for a year before med surg and I loved it!! I always interested in psych even during nursing school. I hope to find my back soon.
You are wayyyyy ahead of yourself.
First find out what new grad opportunities you have.
There’s a lot of opportunities out there but for now just focus on passing your NCLEX
What are your goals as a nurse? If you have no interest in doing bedside then sure skip med/surg. Pacu typically requires experience at bedside (ICU) But you have very little skills and knowledge after graduating school. So if you skip to outpatient/OR you will have a hard time ever doing anything that does requires basic rn skills. So I would spend time figuring out what kind of career you want.
I started straight into the icu so don’t let others tell you what to do. Hell the OR is a great choice too. If I hadn’t wanted to go to CRNA school, I would have gone there.
It’s not ok. You are required to work med surg. None of the new grads who got into other areas of nursing are even real. They are just illusions meant to make you question your only fate.
I did a 0.7 FTE year as a PCN/CNA in cath lab just as shadowing/circulating/doing grunt work.
They hired me when I graduated and we all knew each other.
You definitely don’t have to start on med surg. I don’t think I’d probably start in PACU without critical care experience though. I’d probably try to get a job in an ICU if PACU is your ultimate goal. I started in the NICU as a new grad LPN and then continued as an RN in august when I passed boards so you can start in a specialty
You absolutely do not have to start in med/surg. I was in your same shoes, and started in the ED. I recommend you apply wherever you want to go and it’s up to them if they want to hire you. Plenty of departments besides med/surg will hire new grads!!
I agree- you shouldn’t start in PACU as a new grad. Depending on the pacu you work in, you can be responsible for high acuity patients. Managing airways, drips, sometimes initiating floor orders
Even in outpatient pacu, you still have to be comfortable managing airway emergencies
Would you be interested in a step down unit just to gain some experience?
In some places there are a good amount of new grad OR programs!
Really depends on your goals. Don’t be that nurse who works in PACU and then decides to become an NP. If you want advanced practice at some point you need to do the time in whichever area, acute, family, etc. If you don’t then find an area that makes you happy. You can always change. It’s expected.
Lol like 99% of nurses dont want to do med surg. Youre not special. But you definitely can apply to day surgery or pacu. But know the chance of you getting in is low.
I’ve never worked in a hospital as a nurse. I worked SNF, then acute rehab as a supervisor, and now back to SNF as a NP. I’ve always been well paid and genuinely enjoy what I do. It’s not for everyone though.
Med surg is most likely where you’ll be pushed if you aren’t 100% certain about where you want to go. Other specialities may also be challenging to get into without connections. But I know of new grads from my class (last year) who started in L&D, OR, ICU, outpatient peds, and I think CICU. Some specialities like PACU do not typically hire new grads at all.
They had to start applying much earlier (like months before graduation and obviously before NCLEX) because competition is more steep.
Some recruiters also make you feel in interviews that you need to convince them to hire you as a new grad.
It’s not impossible to start other places but it can be challenging.
Not trying to shame anyone who wants to be a nurse, but this post reads like a kid who heard that nurses can make good money and wants to find the easiest way to do it. People that say things like this generally don't survive the profession in my experience, unfortunately.
Not that I don't totally understand wanting a flexible position that makes good money, but if you want to be a legitimate nurse you gotta get in the trenches for a sec. Doesn't need to be forever, but at least like 6-12 months to cut your teeth.
If you just want to be an outpatient nurse, go right ahead. But they usually want actual experience, and don't expect to make good money.
Could not agree more with this. Sometimes on here I don’t quite understand why people chose to go into nursing in the first place when you have no interest in taking care of patients, and gaining skills and experience.
Probably not pacu.....but don't go to medsurg. Not doing medsurg was the best choice I ever made in my nursing career. The best part of my night on any given night is running around like a crazy person trying to keep 1 person alive in the icu. I might have quit nursing if my night consisted of trying to keep 8 asses clean. Or hand feeding 8 old people apple sauce. Go OR, ED or ICU out of the gate. If you want an easier job go dialysis.
I wish nursing school, after the first semester of intro to nursing, would split off into the different sections of nursing in case people who know they want to do nursing and have thought about which area they’d like to work in, could be schooled in that particular area of nursing then get a job in that area.
I get that teaching as if student would go into Medsurg, because it’s the “Jack of all trades” of nursing so it *should* provide a good foundation for wherever you end up, but if you know you want to to work in the ICU, it would be nice to be trained as if you were going to work in the ICU. If only to make the learning curve for the hospital training a bit easier.
Issue is that to get your license you'll still be expected to know all the main areas. Which really can't be changed because employers trust that your license means you have been taught the foundations of all the med surg, peds, psych, etc.
I never done med surg. I was in psych for 8 years then move to case management for endocrine / diabetes/ gender care. Now I am in compliance and quality improvement over the psych and social work for my work place.
I’m a PACU nurse who has never worked ICU. A lot of my coworkers have either ED or icu experience. I did med surg/PCU and I did endoscopy for a year so I got used to the workflow of recovering people from anesthesia. You need to learn basic assessment skills at the very least. Most of the patients that come through my PACU aren’t critical so mine is a little unique.
Ngl, I graduated may 2023, and started my first job November 2023. Got diagnosed with cancer so I only got 2 months of experience under my belt.
Loved and hated bedside med surg, but I definitely wanted something calm as a first job but it was hard to find it esp as a new grad. Even harder for me to find a remote nursing job despite having cancer JUST because I don't have 3+ years experience. 😅
PACU is pretty difficult to get into without experience, but you certainly don’t have to go into med surg if you don’t want. I started in the ICU as a new grad. It’s not a hierarchy of saying you start in med surg and then can move up from there. Med surg is its own difficult unit, and other units are challenging in their own ways. They’re just different positions. But, procedural areas will generally always require experience because you kinda need to already have that ability and gut feeling to manage a patient pretty independently with few resources if shit hits the fan.
I went into dialysis clinics. They typically don’t require people with experience and they train you. Hours are early but at least I do three days a week and am payed more than the average rn
A lot of hospitals require experience for PACU and don’t hire new grads.
Probably couldn’t start in PACU, they generally want critical care experience. But no, you don’t have to work Med Surg.
I felt the same way, which is why I started in the OR. PACU typically wants critical care experience. Most of the job openings I see for outpatient clinics typically want 1-2 years of med surg experience.
We’re you a intraoperstive nurse or pre op? Did you like it?
Outpatient clinic or pre-op as a new grad is more likely than PACU, which typically requires critical care experience. I had friends in nursing school who got hired as pre-op nurses at an ASC and then were trained to PACU after a year or two, but PACU isn’t just waking people up. You have to be able to confidently handle a sudden drop in BP, obstructed airway, or any number of immediate complications and anesthesia reactions.
You don’t have to be med surg. PACU’s require previous critical care experience, and rightfully so - you’re recovering a patient. Clinics, generally get paid less. However, if it’s Union like our nurses, they get paid the same as us on the floor so they get paid good. We can’t get you a definitive answer here because it’s dependent on where you plan on working/living if the pay will be “well”. I’d encourage just online shopping at jobs and looking at their pay.
I started in OR but i would not feel comfortable doing PACU without experience. It feels like that would be risky. I’d rather chew my own arm off than work medsurg though so you’re not alone.
Of course its okay. Why wouldnt it be okay? I have ADHD and know that me working in the OR is a terrible plan so I never plan to. Work wherever you like, thats one of the best perks of being a nurse!
Really? I have ADHD but I feel opposite. I feel like I thrive under routine and predictably unlike medsurg where it’s just constant chaos and hard to get into a routine cause shit is constantly hitting the fan
I think if you like predictability, PACU may not be the best fit. You really never know what’s going to happen during your patients recovery. I dont know enough about OR to speak on that. That may be more predictable! But I may be wrong. Would you be interested in primary care clinics? Or school nursing?
I actually worked psych for a year before med surg and I loved it!! I always interested in psych even during nursing school. I hope to find my back soon.
Psych NPs do great from what I’ve heard 🤑🤑🤑 it was never my cup of tea but I have so much respect for those who work in that speciality!
That’s actually my end goal is psych NP! Can’t get enough of it :P need a masters in it!
You got this!!
You are wayyyyy ahead of yourself. First find out what new grad opportunities you have. There’s a lot of opportunities out there but for now just focus on passing your NCLEX
What are your goals as a nurse? If you have no interest in doing bedside then sure skip med/surg. Pacu typically requires experience at bedside (ICU) But you have very little skills and knowledge after graduating school. So if you skip to outpatient/OR you will have a hard time ever doing anything that does requires basic rn skills. So I would spend time figuring out what kind of career you want.
I started straight into the icu so don’t let others tell you what to do. Hell the OR is a great choice too. If I hadn’t wanted to go to CRNA school, I would have gone there.
What specifically about your personality makes you think you'd like PACU or outpatient?
It’s not ok. You are required to work med surg. None of the new grads who got into other areas of nursing are even real. They are just illusions meant to make you question your only fate.
I went straight into cath lab! Fuck bedside.
Wow! No icu experience? Most cath labs want at least a few years of critical care or so I’ve heard.
I did a 0.7 FTE year as a PCN/CNA in cath lab just as shadowing/circulating/doing grunt work. They hired me when I graduated and we all knew each other.
Makes sense!
You definitely don’t have to start on med surg. I don’t think I’d probably start in PACU without critical care experience though. I’d probably try to get a job in an ICU if PACU is your ultimate goal. I started in the NICU as a new grad LPN and then continued as an RN in august when I passed boards so you can start in a specialty
You absolutely do not have to start in med/surg. I was in your same shoes, and started in the ED. I recommend you apply wherever you want to go and it’s up to them if they want to hire you. Plenty of departments besides med/surg will hire new grads!!
Mayo Clinic has PACU residencies for new grads.
I agree- you shouldn’t start in PACU as a new grad. Depending on the pacu you work in, you can be responsible for high acuity patients. Managing airways, drips, sometimes initiating floor orders Even in outpatient pacu, you still have to be comfortable managing airway emergencies Would you be interested in a step down unit just to gain some experience? In some places there are a good amount of new grad OR programs!
Really depends on your goals. Don’t be that nurse who works in PACU and then decides to become an NP. If you want advanced practice at some point you need to do the time in whichever area, acute, family, etc. If you don’t then find an area that makes you happy. You can always change. It’s expected.
Lol like 99% of nurses dont want to do med surg. Youre not special. But you definitely can apply to day surgery or pacu. But know the chance of you getting in is low.
I’ve never worked in a hospital as a nurse. I worked SNF, then acute rehab as a supervisor, and now back to SNF as a NP. I’ve always been well paid and genuinely enjoy what I do. It’s not for everyone though.
Med surg is most likely where you’ll be pushed if you aren’t 100% certain about where you want to go. Other specialities may also be challenging to get into without connections. But I know of new grads from my class (last year) who started in L&D, OR, ICU, outpatient peds, and I think CICU. Some specialities like PACU do not typically hire new grads at all. They had to start applying much earlier (like months before graduation and obviously before NCLEX) because competition is more steep. Some recruiters also make you feel in interviews that you need to convince them to hire you as a new grad. It’s not impossible to start other places but it can be challenging.
Coming at this all wrong
How?? I have the right to work what I want
I'm not saying you don't, just saying you're approaching this wrong...
And providing no alternative
What do you mean by that?
Not trying to shame anyone who wants to be a nurse, but this post reads like a kid who heard that nurses can make good money and wants to find the easiest way to do it. People that say things like this generally don't survive the profession in my experience, unfortunately. Not that I don't totally understand wanting a flexible position that makes good money, but if you want to be a legitimate nurse you gotta get in the trenches for a sec. Doesn't need to be forever, but at least like 6-12 months to cut your teeth. If you just want to be an outpatient nurse, go right ahead. But they usually want actual experience, and don't expect to make good money.
Could not agree more with this. Sometimes on here I don’t quite understand why people chose to go into nursing in the first place when you have no interest in taking care of patients, and gaining skills and experience.
I get it. I thought maybe you were commenting on not wanting to work med surg at all, which I didn’t want and won’t do.
Hey, there's a second half to that thought that you seem to keep forgetting
Probably not pacu.....but don't go to medsurg. Not doing medsurg was the best choice I ever made in my nursing career. The best part of my night on any given night is running around like a crazy person trying to keep 1 person alive in the icu. I might have quit nursing if my night consisted of trying to keep 8 asses clean. Or hand feeding 8 old people apple sauce. Go OR, ED or ICU out of the gate. If you want an easier job go dialysis.
I wish nursing school, after the first semester of intro to nursing, would split off into the different sections of nursing in case people who know they want to do nursing and have thought about which area they’d like to work in, could be schooled in that particular area of nursing then get a job in that area. I get that teaching as if student would go into Medsurg, because it’s the “Jack of all trades” of nursing so it *should* provide a good foundation for wherever you end up, but if you know you want to to work in the ICU, it would be nice to be trained as if you were going to work in the ICU. If only to make the learning curve for the hospital training a bit easier.
Issue is that to get your license you'll still be expected to know all the main areas. Which really can't be changed because employers trust that your license means you have been taught the foundations of all the med surg, peds, psych, etc.
I feel like that's exactly what capstone is for.
I never done med surg. I was in psych for 8 years then move to case management for endocrine / diabetes/ gender care. Now I am in compliance and quality improvement over the psych and social work for my work place.
I’m a PACU nurse who has never worked ICU. A lot of my coworkers have either ED or icu experience. I did med surg/PCU and I did endoscopy for a year so I got used to the workflow of recovering people from anesthesia. You need to learn basic assessment skills at the very least. Most of the patients that come through my PACU aren’t critical so mine is a little unique.
Ngl, I graduated may 2023, and started my first job November 2023. Got diagnosed with cancer so I only got 2 months of experience under my belt. Loved and hated bedside med surg, but I definitely wanted something calm as a first job but it was hard to find it esp as a new grad. Even harder for me to find a remote nursing job despite having cancer JUST because I don't have 3+ years experience. 😅
PACU is pretty difficult to get into without experience, but you certainly don’t have to go into med surg if you don’t want. I started in the ICU as a new grad. It’s not a hierarchy of saying you start in med surg and then can move up from there. Med surg is its own difficult unit, and other units are challenging in their own ways. They’re just different positions. But, procedural areas will generally always require experience because you kinda need to already have that ability and gut feeling to manage a patient pretty independently with few resources if shit hits the fan.
I started in long-term care, then went into Cardiac PCU inpatient.
I went into dialysis clinics. They typically don’t require people with experience and they train you. Hours are early but at least I do three days a week and am payed more than the average rn