Hospital closing my entire unit.

Nurses General Nursing

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I work postpartum and was in the middle of being trained in nursery because the plan was to go to couple care, when I feel like the rug was pulled out from under our unit. Due to low census and budget issues, my hospital is closing the L&D/postpartum/nursery unit and turning it into a med-surg unit. We have until the end of this month, then we are all out of a job. Oh sure, the hospital offered to let us transfer to other places in their system, but there are just a handful of women's services jobs and zero postpartum. Sure, our unit is small, but we had such potential. It is so hard to go to work on the unit, the moral is so bad.

I know I have to suck it up and carry on, but it is so hard. I want to enjoy the time I have left with my amazing coworkers, but it's overshadowed by the constant job hunting and the reality that such a good team is being dismantled. It all just makes me sick to my stomach.

It even has me thinking I need a break from this whole nursing career.

Specializes in geriatrics.

Is it possible to transfer to med surg or work PRN while you look for another position? Sucks, but this is happening everywhere, including where I live.

In fact, we will find out the fate of our facility very soon. Start polishing up your resume, and know that you will be ok, despite this setback.

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I work postpartum and was in the middle of being trained in nursery because the plan was to go to couple care, when I feel like the rug was pulled out from under our unit. Due to low census and budget issues, my hospital is closing the L&D/postpartum/nursery unit and turning it into a med-surg unit. We have until the end of this month, then we are all out of a job. Oh sure, the hospital offered to let us transfer to other places in their system, but there are just a handful of women's services jobs and zero postpartum. Sure, our unit is small, but we had such potential. It is so hard to go to work on the unit, the moral is so bad.

I know I have to suck it up and carry on, but it is so hard. I want to enjoy the time I have left with my amazing coworkers, but it's overshadowed by the constant job hunting and the reality that such a good team is being dismantled. It all just makes me sick to my stomach.

It even has me thinking I need a break from this whole nursing career.

Sending you one great big *HUG*!

Sad to say your situation is not unique and it is going on everywhere. Hospitals are shuttering units left and right though it does seem OB/Gyn along with Peds services are prime targets.

Quietly during the confusion of Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy a well known hospital here in NYC closed one of their Peds units. Nursing staff smelled a rat and called management out on it but the response was the space was needed for adult patients evacuated from other hospitals due to the storm.

Total stuff and nonesense as the Peds unit never reopened and now is offically closed. St. Luke's Hospital quietly shut down pediatric unit during Hurricane Sandy - NYPOST.com

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I am sorry for your situation. These days it has become really hard to experience budget cuts.

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Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.

Our little neighbor community hospital closed its L&D unit also. Good for our L&D unit, because we took about half of their moms, but I was wondering what would happen to the staff - our L&D has a very, very slow turnover. :unsure:

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

It sucks, but it happens.

Shortly after I got hired, our transitional care unit closed their doors because the hospital census was down...then despite the increase in census, it remained closed. They were trying to decide what to do with the unit for the longest time....they were thinking about expanding ICU into that unit...or turning it into a PICU. Then they decided to turn it into a CCU.

CCU opened, had a couple of patients, then closed again for a few months. Staff that were hired for the new CCU started to pick up elsewhere in the hospital.

Now CCU is open and fully functional, and the CCU staff work there.

As for the TCU staff, they all got transferred to my unit, which is progressive care (PCU). Some decided to go to ICU or other areas.

Now we're facing a similar situation again....one of our med-surg units closed their doors, so now our med-surg nurses are being dispersed between our other med-surg unit, PCU and sometimes CCU.

My point is, your hospital should offer you the opportunity to transfer to a different department. Do you have to work in postpartum? In today's market, I would just take whatever I could get. And why won't they just let you and the other nurses work on your unit when it becomes a med-surg floor?

At my hospital, our post-partum unit also doubles as a med-surg floor, but it's women's med-surg. They come in with gynecological problems/pelvic inflammatory infections or things like abdominal pain. Sometimes all they have are deliveries (lady partsl and c-section) and sometimes all they have are female med-surg patients. It just depends.

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Specializes in PCCN.

soon thats all that is going to be available - med surg, and nursing home :(

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This sounds very familiar. My friend works at a hospital here in San Antonio who is going through the exact same thing right now. Hang in there and I hope you get a job soon! :)

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soon thats all that is going to be available - med surg, and nursing home :(

That and outpatient along with ambulatory care center/surgery.

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I read recently that the birth rate in the U.S. is at an all time low. Even OB's in some locales are having to level into other areas due to not enough patients. I wonder if this has anything to do with it. You did mention low census.

Census counts for L&D/maternity along with peds totally has something to do with things closing left and right. If women aren't having babies and it continues long enough in an area then it soon becomes survival of the fittest.

You also have moms to be being very choosy as to where they deliver. Case in point many hospitals in Brooklyn,NY are not seeing any increased maternity patients with all the gentrification going on. Well insured middle and above class women still choose by an overwhelming majority to go into Manhattan or Long Island for their pre-natal and or delivery.

Also depending upon the local L&D represents a significant malpractice exposure for a hospital. Some places simply look at the associated costs and decide it just isn't worth having a maternity service. IIRC here in NYS hospitals can be sued up until the "child" is either 18 or 21 for malpractice related to birth.

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

Let me start by expressing great sympathy to the OP. I have never experienced any such thing and I can only imagine how hideous that would be especially since you comment about what a great team you have.

But on to a subsequent poster's comments:

soon thats all that is going to be available - med surg, and nursing home :(

If you look at the population numbers, with medicine's ability to prolong people's lives (in varying states of health), there are naturally going to be a higher percentage of med-surg and nursing home positions. The aging population requires many more nursing hours per year than moms and babies that don't typically stay in-patient all that long.

Below is from the Social Security Administration:

Due to demographic changes, the U.S. Social Security system will face financial challenges in the near future. Declining fertility rates and increasing life expectancies are causing the U.S. population to age. Today 12 percent of the total population is aged 65 or older, but by 2080, it will be 23 percent. At the same time, the working-age population is shrinking from 60 percent today to a projected 54 percent in 2080. Consequently, the Social Security system is experiencing a declining worker-to-beneficiary ratio, which will fall from 3.3 in 2005 to 2.1 in 2040.

So while I believe we (as nurses) will see a rise in births and need for Women's Health nurses in a few years when (if?) the economy recovers, in general, the percentage of nursing positions in Women's Health will continue to decline as the need for med-surg & nursing home nurses will only rise to match the need of the aging population.

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Yes, I've heard that too. People are waiting to get married too, now.

At least on a positive note young people are understanding that if you have a child you will need to support it as well. Bringing a kid into this world is serious business - better have a stable job and be able to see into the future a bit. These days the future is more than muddy.

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Specializes in med/surg, home health, nursing education.

Hi,

So sorry to hear about your job! I know that most OB nurses do not want to work in med/surg. Have you looked into home care opportunities? A local home care company just posted in the newspaper for a mom/baby visiting nurse. A good friend of mine recently went to a AWHHON confernece and said this becoming a trend. Definitely interview for other places! But also keep your options open in that hospital, as well. If you a truly dedicted to OB, then it's best if you take another OB position.

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