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Medical-Surgical Nurse

General medical and post-surgical adults across a broad diagnostic mix.

Who these nurses care for

General medical and post-surgical adults across a broad diagnostic mix.

What the shift actually looks like

Five or six patients across a wide diagnostic mix, with discharge planning running alongside direct care all shift. The work is less acute than critical care and considerably more fragmented.

Credentials and certifications

Typically required
BLS; ACLS in many facilities; CMSRN valued
Typical ratio
Typically 1:5 to 1:6

What to specify when you send the req

Ratio, whether the floor takes tele overflow, and specialty concentration if any.

Why this role is hard to fill

The most placed nursing specialty and the one where ratio honesty matters most. Travelers leave med-surg assignments over undisclosed patient loads faster than over anything else.

What candidates ask before accepting

Answering these in the req itself shortens the process considerably, because they are the questions that otherwise surface at offer stage and cause declines: The actual ratio rather than the posted one, whether the floor takes tele overflow, and support staff availability.

Contract or permanent?

Contract for census swings, leave coverage and seasonal surge. Per diem to protect ratios without expanding core FTE. Permanent when the seat is structural. The expensive mistake is running contract labour for eighteen months on a role that was always permanent.

Licensure

Registered nursing is covered by the Nurse Licensure Compact in most of the country, so a multistate license lets a nurse work across member states without a new application. Thirteen jurisdictions sit outside it — Alaska, California, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands — and in those markets every out-of-state nurse needs a single-state license first. Those are the markets where reqs stay open longest.

How we work this req

Every candidate is spoken to before you see them, with licensure for your state, certifications and unit-specific competency confirmed before submittal. We screen to the credential the unit actually needs rather than the title on the posting. Rates sit inside the ranges on our published cost breakdown.

Common questions

What certifications does a Med-Surg nurse need?

BLS; ACLS in many facilities; CMSRN valued.

What is the typical typical ratio in Med-Surg?

Typically 1:5 to 1:6.

Why is Med-Surg hard to fill?

The most placed nursing specialty and the one where ratio honesty matters most. Travelers leave med-surg assignments over undisclosed patient loads faster than over anything else.

What do candidates ask before accepting a Med-Surg assignment?

The actual ratio rather than the posted one, whether the floor takes tele overflow, and support staff availability.

Other units in Critical & Acute Care

See all nursing specialties or our nursing staffing overview.

Need Med-Surg coverage?

Tell us the ratio, the equipment and the start date, and we will tell you the realistic fill window.