CNAs in L&D

I agree! I certainly needed a LOT more help than the nurses were able to give. I, unfortunately, ended up with an emergency cesarean and the aftercare is no joke.

We do have CNAs in our L/D department, but they do not do hands-on pt care except on a very limited basis. (Bringing a baby to the nursery after report has been called, helping to transport a pt back to the OR, a couple examples). Mostly what they do revolves around stocking, setting up rooms, and making sure the ORs are set up/broken down efficiently. It's still a good way to get your hands wet, even if you aren't actually "taking care of patients." You still get a feel for the flow of the unit, what the nurses do, how the docs like things, etc.

The L&D unit that I work for now, utilizes CNA's, LPN's and RN's. However, when I was in nursing school, the local hospital did not use CNA's in their L&D. So, I wrote an e-mail to the nurse manager of the L&D unit explaining how much I wanted to go into labor and delivery after school,how it was the reason that I was in nursing school, and that I would love the experience, if there was anything that I could do. She hired me as a unit secretary, and allowed me to work as a nurse tech as well. I worked L&D, Post-partum, and nursery. Of course, I could do a lot more in PP than nursery or L&D. However, it was wonderful experience for me, and I had a job as an R.N. waiting on me in L&D there as soon as I graduated. It worked well for everyone because I already knew the flow of the unit, the nurses, and the M.D.s. I suggest talking to the manager, even if H.R. states that they do not hire CNA's in L&D. It worked for me. The worst they can do is say no.

It was actually amazing how much staff they had. Each laboring patient had a RN for one on one care. On the post partum wing they had "assistants" for filing and such, but the RN also did all the vitals, baby care, etc. It seemed to work great for that hospital and the patients were well taken care of.
Seems each hospital is vastly different. I start another round of clinicals tomorrow at a different facility, so we'll see that that brings!

Maybe you didn't mean for this to come across this way, but "CNA work" is just work that CNA's do to assist the nurses- it's just non-specialized nursing work. CNA's are "nursing assistants". Before the influx of insta-degreed RN's all nurses had to do "CNA work" as part of their training and *jobs*. CNA's just came along to help out the RN's in some of the less specialized medical tasks that they could be trained to do- to assist the RN's- not do their jobs for them. Meaning- RNs should have to do all of the less than glamourous stuff too- because the CNA isn't always going to be around/available. Now- if you were just meaning that you were shocked/depressed to see them be short staffed- I totally understand that one.

Hi prisirn2b,
I am taking the exact same route as you. I was wondering if anyone could tell me of any hospitals in AZ that hire CNA's for L & D? or postpartum if it is a seperate dept. I really appreciate it.

I worked as a Labor and Delivery Patient Care Technician during nursing school. This required a CNA certification, and on the job training (or a PCT program) for foleys, newborn and maternal bloodwork, etc. We attended vaginal deliveries, baby baths, IV insertion, and typical duties within the scope of cna's (VS, hygiene for bed-rest patients). We could attend c-sections to assist the circulating OR nurse, but they had surgical techs also. Many hospitals only have surgical techs, if any nursing support. Some sugical techs in hospitals scrub csection and perform other duties, and others do csections exclusively. I have also seen hospitals that employ L&D CNAs, but their duties were limited to clerical work, vital signs, and linen changes.

I absolutely LOVED working as a Labor and Delivery tech, and I highly recommend it to someone who wants to be a labor and delivery nurse, but be sure about what your duties are and clear about the experience you want to gain during your interview.

When you are in nursing school, I recommend doing an internship in a medsurg or ICU setting, not L&D, because much of what you learn in L&D cannot be applied to other settings. Although I do not think it is absolutely necessary to do the year of medsurg before your specialty as a new grad (you will hear that during nursing school), when you are a labor and delivery nurse, you are treating the whole patient, not just her uterus and baby! Emergencies can occur and you want to be knowledgable, and valuable knowledge can be gained from good ICU exposure, or even medsurg. Of course medsurg/ICU/whatever nursing is a great idea before L&D, but not absolutely necessary.

Those of you who currently work in L & D and/or newborn nursery as a CNA...can you tell me some of your job duties? I am a CNA in a small rural hospital in L & D and newborn nursery/postpartum..and we are updating our standard..just curious what everyone else is doing out there! Thanks!