The Medical Surgical Nurse
Medical-Surgical Nursing or Med-Surg. Nursing is a field where the practitioners work in hospital settings, home care units, acute care facilities, and long term care institutions. They primarily provide care to adult patients before and after surgery. They also cater to patients who are being pharmaceutically treated for various illnesses. Medical surgical nurses have the option of becoming Advance Practice Nurses (APNs). Medical surgical APNs may be called to fill educator and researcher roles. Medical nursing subspecialties also exists, they include pediatric med-surg. nursing and geriatric med-surg. nursing.
ROLES OF A MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSE
The Med-Surg. Nurse has many roles to fill. Foremost among them is the role of direct caregiver. The men and women in this nursing field will be one of the very last people to interact with patients before they go in for surgery. They will also be one of the very first to receive the past post-op.
Medical Surgical nurses may also have to take on the role of a medicating nurse for both surgical and non surgical patients. These nurses also function as counselors, patient advocates and as health educators. Some med-surg. nurses also have to stand as witnesses in a patient’s consent form when necessary.
Most Med-Surg. Nurses are found in a hospital’s surgical wing. Medical Surgical Nurses who care for pre-op patients have a different role compared to nurses who take care of post-op patients. The basic roles such as Vital Signs monitoring may be the same, but a few important things differ. It is also important to remember that most medical surgical nurses take care of both pre and post surgical patients.
Pre – Op
Nurses taking care of patients who are about to go into surgery have to do a few things to ensure that the operation goes on without a hitch. Some of their roles are as follows:
- Prep The Patient For Surgery – The Medical Surgical Nurse must ensure that the patient is fully prepped for surgery. Surgery prep could include shaving the patient and administering enemas. The nurse may delegate these tasks to aides, but it is the medical surgical nurse’s responsibility to make sure that the procedures were done right.
- Pre-op medication - The nurse is in charge of making sure that the patient has taken the prescribed pre-op meds like minor sedatives.
- Vital Signs – The medical Surgical Nurse must take the patient’s Vital Signs before the patient leaves for the Operating Room. This will serve as baseline data for the surgeon and the anaesthesiologist.
- Consent – It is the med-surg. nurse’s responsibility to make sure that the patient signed the appropriate consent form for the procedure. If it is found that the patient is having doubts or do not understand the risk of surgery, the nurse must then inform the physician of such so that he/she can educate the patient properly.
Post – Op
Nurses who receive patient from the Operating room must be equally careful and meticulous about the patient’s condition. Some roles of the post-op medical surgical nurses are:
- Vital Signs – Taking a post-op patient’s Vitals is the very first thing that a nurse should do. Initially the nurse must assess the patients pulse, cardiac rate and respiration. The nurse should also take the patient’s Blood Pressure and Temperature. It is important to note that a post-op patient’s vitals may be lower than normal.
- Medication – Most surgeons order post-op meds that have to be given as soon as the patient get settled in their room. It is the nurse’s role to see what these orders are and to implement them according. The medical surgical nurse also has to pay attention to the type of IV fluid supplied to the patient. The pre-op IV line fluid may no longer be the same as the post op one.
- Dressing Condition – The Med-Surg. nurse must make sure that the patient’s dressing is dry and intact. Otherwise, the nurse will have to change it to fresh ones – unless specifically ordered by the doctor or attending physician. The nurse also has to check the integrity of any drainage mechanisms coming from the patient’s wounds.
No matter what role a Medical Surgical Nurse or any nurse takes, the most important thing to remember is DOCUMENTATION. You need to be able to document all the important events, procedures and medication given to the patient.
DIAGNOSES
As mentioned, medical surgical nurses are not limited to caring for surgical patients. They also care for patients admitted to the hospital for pharmaceutical and palliative therapy. The number and type of diagnoses encountered by a med-surg. nurse depends on the hospital. Nurses in smaller hospitals may have to deal with everything from cancer cases to dengue patients. However, if the nurse is employed in a bigger hospital, he/she would rarely see those cases because they would be delegated to oncology and infectious disease nurses.
Published at: 09/12/2015
