Did you know that there are more than 3.8 million registered nurses around the United States? If you are a nurse and are wondering “is Med Surg the same as working in ICU?” you are in the right place. We have put together this guide to share how they are not the same.
Keep reading to learn more about the main differences.
Level of Care Provided
One of the main difference between working in ICU and the regular hospital floor (oftentimes called the Medical/Surgical floor) is the level of care each nurse has to provide. Nurses in the med surg field are trained across a variety of illnesses and diseases. Things like recovering from surgery, infectious disease, and other conditions that require hospitalization.
Medical/surgical nurses have to be familiar with a wide range of sicknesses and illnesses and they also have to be familiar with every body system in order to treat and care for patients correctly. A med/surg nurse sees a lot more patients on a daily basis than an ICU nurse.
An ICU nurse only deals with patients that have a life-threatning problem or a patient that is in immediate recovery from a major surgery. These nurses are sometimes also called a critical care nurse because of the type of specialized care they have to give to patients that come into the Intensive Care Unit.
Equipment Differences
Medical/surgical nurses have equipment to help monitor patient care and so do ICU nurses. The main difference is that ICU nurses have more monitoring because they normally have feeding tubes, IV tubes, catheters, breathing machines, etc to keep track of. You can take a look at this link for more medical surgical supply information.
ICU nurses also have to complete procedures that medical/surg nurses are not trained to do. For example, an ICU nurse might have to insert a chest tube, operate a ventilator, or insert a central line in a patient. There is a higher level of assessment required from an ICU nurse.
An ICU nurse has to stay atop the latest equipment available. Specialty equipment such as renal dialysis machines, shunts, arterial lines, aortic balloon pumps, are a few specialty pieces that ICU nurses have to take educational classes on.
Work Intensity
Usually, ICU nurses are allowed to work a bit more independently than a med surg nurse. Work in the ICU is typically stressful because of the instability of patient’s health when they arrive.
Work intensity is also high on a med surg floor because of the number of patients a nurse has to deal with at the same time. These nurses have to juggle over half a dozen patients during their shifts and also chart and delegate certain tasks to nursing assistants.
Feeling Like an ICU and Med Surg Nurse Pro?
We hope that now that we explained how a med surg and ICU nurse are different, you can make an informed decision on your next career move.
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