New OB Nurses, Grads and Students, Please Feel Free to post your questions here:

[SmilingBluEyes]

Mugwump had a great idea offering services to new grads as a mentor (thank you for that!)

So, I thought having a "sticky" for new grads, OB nurses, students, and others with questions who want to post these can do so here. We also seem to see many of the same questions over and over, so perhaps this would help serve as an ongoing discussion of common issues/questions we all seem to have on our minds. This could serve not just for those asking directly, but others who may be "lurking" and looking for information or considering a career in OB, newborn, GYN nursing, or midwifery, doula services, childbirth education, lactation consulting, or other related work.

So if any mod thinks this is a good idea, mind stickying this?

Let's give this a go and see how it works out. We have many potential "mentors" here among us who, I am sure, would LOVE to help a new nurse/midwife/doula or student on his or her way to a rewarding career. I know I would love to help out!

[sunflowergrl]

hey girls..i am new to this site and i am sure this is the same question you probably have answered a million times before but there are a million pages on here for me to read through so i hope you dont mind me asking again.

heres my background..i have 5 children and was left 8 years into my marriage. all i have is a high school background in which i graduated in 98. i need to know the first step into becoming a labor and delivery nurse/postpartum. i have requested information from university of phoenix and i am not sure that is what i am suppose to do. i also wanted to know if there is any loans/grants i may be able to apply for as well. thanks so much in advance and i hope you all can answer my questions.

janice

[romesrn00]

My question is; are there any legal implications for staffing a L&D unit with only 2 RN's and no OB TECH, the unit uses a LDRP model.

[confusedsenior]

I'm a senior in high school and I want to persue a career in the medical field. I love working with children and adore babies. I am currently looking at colleges and have no idea what I am doing. I have already become an EMT-B and a CNA, but I am not sure if I want to be a doctor or a nurse. I've had the fun of delivering a baby while on clinicals as an EMT and I've been hooked. I am just not sure exactly on how I am to get my learning career going. For example, should I go to school as pre-med or to a school of nursing. And from there where do i continue. I know these may seem like basic questions for most of you, but I'm a bit confused and a first generation to go to college. If anyone has some help for me I would take it willingly. Thank you.

[AishaRN]

Does anyone have a worksheet that they use that would be helpful.

Thanks

Shannon

[email protected]

Shannon - are you still looking for a "worksheet" ... I have one that helps with making sure things get done during a lady partsl delivery and would be happy to develop one for c/s as well. When I was in orientation and then first on my own, it totally helped to have a "checklist."

Just let me know.

[SCmomof3, RN]

Aisha, I would be interested in and appreciate of both of those resources!!! :)

[AishaRN]

"Aisha, I would be interested in and appreciate of both of those resources!!! :)"

Hi ... if you send me your email address I can email you the worksheet in MS Excel or MS Word :)

I tried to cut and paste here, the formatting doesn't come through

Bye for now!

[missyl670]

I have a question. There are two area hospitals with OB units, however, one you have to work all three areas: postpartum, L&D, and nursery and the other hospital you're just assigned to one of these areas permanately. Which do you think would be better? I've already worked at the one where you do all three and it was very hard because you have three times as much to learn. My favorite was the nursery. I've heard other nurses say you do better if you just stick to one. However, I know from experience that when all the nurses on your floor are trained for all three areas it's nice to be able to get help when one of the areas gets crazy because they don't have to be told how to help-they already know what needs done. What is your opinion? I left the hospital to get a job as a school nurse but I missed the excitement of OB and then I haven't worked for 9 years due to raising my own kids. Now I'm ready to get back into it unfortunately since I've been gone so long I have to spend six months back on med-surg-uggh! But I don't know which hospital to apply to-I'm not sure if it would be best to do one area or three in OB so I wanted some other opinions. Thanks!

[Syneva]

Hello everybody,

I have a question. I am starting nursing school next year and have been trying to research to decide which direction I want to go in the nursing field. I am interested in trying the IVF Nursing, (in vitro fertilization) Most job postings said that experience in the OB/GYN department was preferred.

Does anybody here know anything about that field or about getting into that area of nursing??

Thanks for any feedback!!

[Karley9336]

Questions?? Questions?? OMG, have I got questions... Ok, first things first, I am a recent RN graduate (less than 1 year), took my first job, was on a med-surg unit an hour and half drive from where I live, worked that for 8 months and then got an opportunity to work in a hospital only 15 minutes away from me. It is on an OB unit as second person. (baby nurse). Well, it is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Now, I need to know some good resourses (yes, I know that my workmates are good resourses, but would like some others too. Preferably ones that are minimal or no cost to me). First time that I have been on this website and have found it very informative. Looking for some words of advice in Michigan here.

[Lilnurse0803, RN]

Hello All,

Hope you are all doing well. I am not sure whether this has already been covered somewhere in this forum, and if it has I apologize and ask to be redirected to those posts.

I have been orienting in L&D for over two and a half months now and I want to know if anyone has any recommendations on books or references for OB documentation. I have a book called Chart Smart, but it appears to be a med-surg charting book and has no OB samples.

I have some basic ideas on what to write, but would like to have more information on a concise yet comprehensive way to document on most scenarios for my patients.

Any recommendations are highly appreciated.

Thanks!

[rxbunnie]

Has anyone had to deal with hearing (or heard from other people) that OB nursing was looked down upon?

I'm a new grad, and I just took NCLEX-RN yesterday... Before I graduated I knew that I wanted to go into OB because I was fortunate to work as a PCSA (and aide) in an L&D unit... and I loved it! Since the nurses knew I was a nursing student they were so great on letting me follow them through deliveries, c/s, etc... They couldn't wait for me to graduate!

A family member of mine (who is a peds-oncology nurse) gave me a hard time about choosing to go into L&D. They said when a group of nurses get together and someone says they're an L&D nurse... the others will laugh. They even said it wasn't a specialty! I was so frustrated... I love my unit, and I was so mad that they couldn't even support me in a decision that would make me HAPPY.

I just wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience and how they felt about/dealt with it. TIA.

[MamaMadge, ADN, BSN]

rxbunnie, congrats on graduating and taking the NCLEX!

Yes, I have heard people say that L & D isn't "real" nursing....they have obviously never been near a Maternal-Child unit! We deal with very sick women, trying to balance their well being with that of their baby, IV drips, hemorrhages, post-op wounds, infections etc. etc. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I feel very much like a "real" nurse! I wouldn't try to convince other people that you are a real nurse....just let em' laugh....we know who and what we are!!