Pros
- Exposure to a wide variety of patient conditions and diagnoses on a med surg unit which is valuable for nursing students - Builds foundational clinical skills quickly due to high patient volume - Good experience for your resume if you're pursuing a nursing/healthcare career
Cons
- The hiring process is extremely fast, which sounds great until you realize it's because they'll hire almost anyone due to how short staffed they are - Turnover is high and it's not hard to see why once you start working there - The manager is nearly impossible to get ahold of after orientation, so don't expect much support or guidance especially as a new hire - Orientation is a mess. You basically just shadow someone who doesn't want you there and end up doing their work for them instead of actually learning anything - They do not respect your PRN availability. Even if you clearly mark when you're unavailable, expect to be constantly contacted during those hours asking you to come in. As a nursing student this gets old very fast - Management sends a lot of emails pointing out everything the unit is doing wrong but never addresses the real problem which is that the unit is critically understaffed. The expectations feel completely out of touch with reality - You will not feel appreciated here - Day shift culture was toxic. Gossip about coworkers and even patients happened openly and loudly at the nurses station and even in patient rooms. It made for a really uncomfortable work environment