[plourdie]

I've worked for a private cord blood bank for two years and now I have decided to go back to school for nursing...

I've often wondered if the nurses are responsible for collecting umbilical cord blood and whether they have been trained or are the staff just expected to "have a go at it"?

[RNLaborNurse4U]

The nurses where I work do not collect the cord blood. However, we do put the collection kit onto the sterile field for vag or c/s deliveries, and we label the blood after the physician/midwife collects it. We then pass the blood and kit back to the parents who are responsible for getting the collected blood to the carrier for the cord blood bank company.

[mitchsmom]

We only collect it if a birth is nurse attended (the MD doesn't make it in time).
I have never had a family collect it for storage or donation, just medical providers getting it for regular lab work (baby blood typing, etc.). I donated mine with my last baby and the doc did it.

[ragingmomster]

I work in a large teaching facility and rarely have a delivery without an MD or CNM. For vaginal deliveries the MD/CNM will collect cord blood but an RN will do it if they don't make it in time.

For our C/S cases the circulator will collect it for type and Rh, also for cord gases if they are requested.

We occasionally get a Mom who wants to bank some and we will review the directions about 5 times to be sure we get it right then we'll do it. I haven't seen a woman deliver vaginally who wants to bank so I am not sure if the MD/CNM collects enough for banking.

[crysobrn]

Our docs collect cord blood. If for lab, even in an unnattended delivery I have too much to be doing to be collecting cord blood, I wait til the doc gets there.

For collection kits, we generally review the directions and possibly have to read to the docs because they all seem to be different. But the docs definately collect. It seems like for a while we had quite a few people donating and now it's slowed down. We also have lab draw the labs with admission labs to give to the parents for the kit.

[KellNY]

Not where I work, sometimes.

But where I did my OB clinicals (community hospital) they did all the time. In fact, I did a few as a student nurse.