how long would one recommend working in med-surg to gain experience before specializing?

How long is a piece of string?

It all depends on you. Some people are lucky and can get a specialized area immediately after graduating. However it is most common for new nurses to at least get one year of consolidation before specializing, even if in a specialized area.

The idea of the grad year is to allow for learning to continue as you work and consolidate your skills before being put in a more complex (specialized) environment.

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'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'