[Nursesuzi]

Any tips from you L&D nurses on vag exams and how to interpret dilitation?

[SmilingBluEyes]

Interpret? How? strictly by measurement or as a means to diagnose labor progress? I find the question ambiguous , sorry!

[Reebsnrn]

Originally Posted by Nursesuzi

Any tips from you L&D nurses on vag exams and how to interpret dilitation?

There shouldn't be much interpretation or variance from one person's vag exam to another's but, unfortunately, I've come across some. I've done some traveling and encountered some docs that when they say a pt's 3cm, the nurses know the pt is actually 5cm or vice versa. USUALLY, the nurses tend to agree with each other once they trust your exams. The only suggestion is to check behind some of your seasoned nurses until you get the hang of it. Station is another measurement that takes some practice, but comes after mastering the dilitation. Good luck!

[NurseforPreggers]

I'm a new nurse and the best way I found to be more accurate on my vag exams as far as dilitation is that I actually got out a ruler and measured my fingers side by side with no space in between which is 3 cm for me, the farthest I can spread my finger is 8 cm. That really helped me alot. Maybe it would help you too.

[Mazzi]

I practiced on an orange and baby hat (stretchy kind that baby first wares to keep head warm). An old seasoned OB nurse had me cover the orange with the hat ends rolled to completely cover the orange. It usually starts at about 3cm and if rolled enough times feel like about 15-20%. This gives you a visual and feel that helps learn. Its hard to describe, but try it and you will get the jest of it.

[rn500]

Do you guys have one of those big square plastic guides that have all the dilatations on there, 1cm thru 10cm? It's like a flat, white and blue (at least ours were always white and blue) thing that can be hung on a wall? My trick when I was first starting out was to take that in the room with me when I did my exams with the pretense of showing the pt "see? this is how much you're dilated", but really I was sticking my fingers on there for my OWN benefit! That really helped me learn.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Yes we used those; they helped me thru many a doubt in my first year or two.

[Spidey's mom]

What I found helpful was to check after a seasoned nurse without knowing what she thought. Then compare. I like the idea of measuring your fingers and how far you can spread them.

My difficulty comes from telling what station the baby is hanging around . .. . ...

And I do find the docs have a different interpretation than the nurses. For one thing their hands are usually bigger. For another, they usually tell the moms they are farther along than the nurses think. To make her feel like she is actually progressing. I haven't come across a doc that thinks a woman is dilated smaller than the nurses think.

We also have that dilation chart on the wall.

steph