Maternity Clinical Redo- Tips?

CountryMomma, ASN, RN · Feb 18, 2014

BUBBLE-HE and REEDA were my good friends during mat/neo. As far as careplans, do you have a careplan book? They are amazing. You might even be able to get your hands on a maternal careplan book to study and get the hang of the unique needs of a intra-partum and post-partum mom.

I really like to practice my patient teaching before I do it. I picked the most common topics for my clinical floor (Tele Cardio) and they sat down with a few classmates and took turns teaching each other about the teles, anticoagulant therapy, IS, etc. You will feel more confident and look more professional that way, I think.

Good luck!

4boysmama · Feb 18, 2014

I was informed maternity clinical is heavily focused on confident patient teaching, input and output are critical due to potential bladder complications, and getting information relevant to the development of the careplan for the mother.

Yes, these are all important. Confident teaching because new moms are already freaked out and a nervous nurse will just make them that much more stressed out. I+O are important for a host of reasons. Think about scenarios you might encounter with various patients. If you have a mom who had an uncomplicated lady partsl delivery today, what would your care be focused on? ou How about if were with that mom on day 2? Or discharge day? Now what if you were with a mom the day she had a c/s? The day after? 2 days after? discharge day? what sort of complications would you be watching for with a c/s mom? Would it make a difference what you would watch for if she had an epidural versus general anesthesia?

Now how about baby? If you had baby on day 1 of life, what would you be doing/assessing/looking for? Day 2? Day 3?

Here's some key things to always be aware of for a newly postpartum mom: constipation, bladder control, bleeding, engorgement, pain management, breastfeeding attempts/knowledge (or bottlefeeding knowledge if she's not nursing).

for baby: temp control, glucose control, meconium passage, airway patency (TEF?), weight control, feeding.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Feb 19, 2014

Also remember- labor, birth and the postpartum period are inherently normal life events. Don't go looking for trouble where there probably isn't any. LDRP is a great place for the nursing responsibilities of primary prevention and health promotion to play a huge role, because you are usually dealing with a healthy, motivated population. And while I completely agree that confident teaching is very important, it is equally important to support your mom's intuition and help her feel confident in her ability to care for her baby. That means you should encourage her to do all the hands on care, do baby procedures at the bedside, and instead of saying things like "let me help you breastfeed," say "how is breastfeeding going? What questions or concerns do you have?" Keep the mom in the position of authority about her baby's care.

I&O is important, but these moms won't have foleys and don't need urine output or intake measurements. Just ensure they are voiding normally, and remember that a boggy uterus is often secondary to a full bladder. Take the time to read up on breastfeeding and infant attachment. Familiarize yourself with labor support techniques and non-pharm pain management. These skills will help you build a strong rapport with your patients, and will allow you to show your instructor how dedicated you are.

I read your other thread- you appear smart and well spoken, and I think you are going to make a wonderful nurse! OBGYN is a great specialty, you know- not that I'm biased or anything!!