I am kind of excited, I am going to begin my cna classes this next week. I have been a stay at home mom for the past 20 years, and was kind of lost trying to figure out what I want to do with this next phase of my life. I asked myself a couple of questions, what am I good at... those that know me all say my gift is my caring nature. What do I know? I have 7 children, so I know pregnancy and children. : ) A light bulb hit me as I was reading the boards today, and I know exactly what I could honestly know I would bring benefit and be good at, and.. really enjoy doing. I would love to work in an OB/Gyn setting, however, I don't read a whole lot about cna's in this setting. I am wondering, how difficult is it to get a job in OB/Gyn? How did you get your job for those that work it? Is there other qualifications needed outside of cna licensing.. I would really appreciate any help and advice.

thanks so much!

I am not a cna yet but I've been checking newspapers and hospital job listings and all of the ob/gyn cna or lpn positions that I have seen required 2 years experience. Every place is different so of course someplace by you may not require it but for the ads I saw in NJ 2 years was the minimum. I too would love to work at an ob/gyn, however it looks like it might be hard since I won't even get my cna cert until May lol.

Yea I agree with bnb0627. I would love to work in the labor & delivery unit at my local hospital but it is sooo cutthroat to get into that hospital, and that unit. But every place is different. My suggestion is to look at your local hopsitals & see if they have any openings for that unit & what the requirements are. Good luck!

At my hospital, to be a CNA in L&D/Post-partum, or the nursery you need at least 2 years CNA experience, and the positions don't open up that often. To be in L&D, you also have to be certified scrub tech, which is another class that needs to be taken, and around here it's a 1 year course offered by the various technical/vocational schools. Working in a clinic is probably different, but you can always nextwork and get an idea for what kind of training people have in the kind of jobs you would want, and then work towards that. Connections will go a long way getting into a high-demand/low-number of jobs field like women's health. Best of luck!

If I were you I would look at OB/GYN offices and hospitals to see if they are hiring for ANY position. Once you get in to any unit it doesnt matter how much experience you have..you will be able to transfer within the hospital and the first position in that unit comes open that you want you will be first considered before the outside candidates. Especially if you do good at the first job you get inb the unit. You will stand out. Thats the best way to go about it :)

I just posted this on another thread. Take it from someone who applied for a transfer within the hospital to the postpartum unit. It's very tough 11 internal applicants and about a few dozen outside. The position went to someone with 13-15 years hospital experience in the float pool and we were floated there before. They almost always look at experience in that particular unit before hiring you. Those positions hardly come up and when they do they're snatched up in house almost all the time and with someone who has senority and experience combined. I didn't have a prayer in the world hence why I'm still in the float pool.

Just because one has been pregnant and has children doesn't mean that they're qualified to work in that unit. There are so many things that I didn't even know until I worked on that unit. What are you going to tell a new mother when she tells you that her milk isn't coming in so her baby isn't getting full. Are you going to know the signs and symptoms of a mother who is hemorraging other than abnormal bleeding? How are you going to monitor a mother who is post c-section? What signs and symptoms are you going to look for when caring for that mother? I don't mean to burst your bubble but that's the reality of it. These things are very important and require education and experience combined. Working on that unit isn't all fun and games, I've been in situations where we've had mothers and babies code, stillbirths etc That unit is just too distinct and it's a whole new world there. If that's your goal to work there, I suggest a good reading on mother/infant nursing books, they give good info on theory, but of course the hands on experience is something different. Good Luck

It is going to be tough to get a position like that with no experience. Unless you know someone or are lucky, you will probably go to LTC, sitting, LTAC, or med-surg. Positions on floors like that are usually things that existing employees transfer into. Hate to burst your enthusiasm. Always, no matter what the field,

the more interesting and cooler (or lay-out) areas are harder to get into because of low turnover and are almost always hired internally.

edit: agree with above poster. Many "new" CNAs with unrealistic expectations as to what a new certificate will allow you access to get into.

If I were you I would look at OB/GYN offices and hospitals to see if they are hiring for ANY position. Once you get in to any unit it doesnt matter how much experience you have..you will be able to transfer within the hospital and the first position in that unit comes open that you want you will be first considered before the outside candidates. Especially if you do good at the first job you get inb the unit. You will stand out. Thats the best way to go about it :)

Actually in this field experience does matter. This is a very distinct unit and it's not easy to get into. It's not an automatic transfer once you get in, 98% of the time you're going to be competing with in house transfers who most likely will have more senority than you do. Those positions are few and far between and require a lot of training and education combined. I'm in the float pool so we were required to have special training before we were allowed to float in there. It's a nice place to work in but very difficult to get into.

A I'm in the float pool so we were required to have special training before we were allowed to float in there. It's a nice place to work in but very difficult to get into.

Agreed. In our hospital float pool there is technically a 6-month period where new CNAs aren't allowed to float to any of the specialty units (Peds, ER, ICU, Post-partum, Psych) - just the 3 med-surg floors. Depending on how awful staffing is and how desperate we are, exceptions are made, which is kind of a shame. There's a reason that 6 month period exists. There's nothing like running into a new CNA in the hall at 6:30 am with deer-in-the-headlight eyes asking you *WHERE* the ICU *IS* because they're supposed to float there and don't even know their way around the hospital yet.