OB Nurses: How was your first year?

[zahryia, LPN]

I find the 'First year in nursing' threads fascinating and scary, but I rarely see experiences from OB nurses. Perhaps this is because it is atypical to have your first year in an OB unit.

So for the purpose of this thread, it doesn't matter whether or not you had previous nursing experience. I just want to know how your first year was.

Please note the following:

Did you work in Ante, L&D, PP, or nursery?

Did you have previous nursing experience?

How long was your orientation?

How long did it take you to feel comfortable and/or confident?

Did you ever consider you made a mistake going in this field?

Anything else you want to add!

[jenrninmi, MSN, RN]

Did you work in Ante, L&D, PP, or nursery? I worked Ante, L&D and PP

Did you have previous nursing experience? Yes, 9 months in Neuro/Trauma and 6 months home care specializing in post-op open heart patients.

How long was your orientation? About 12 weeks (I think)

How long did it take you to feel comfortable and/or confident? Um, not sure I really am yet. There are times still that I feel like I still have a lot to learn. Which is good I think, because there still IS a lot to learn.

Did you ever consider you made a mistake going in this field? No Way! I love it! It's why I went to nursing school in the first place!

Anything else you want to add! Last Tuesday was my 1 year anniversary as an OB RN!

[BeccaznRN, RN]

I will answer, but I'm still a bit shy of completing my first year.

Did you work in Ante, L&D, PP, or nursery? I work in L&D and antepartum - float occasionally to our mother/baby unit.

Did you have previous nursing experience? No. I was hired as a new grad.

How long was your orientation? 16 weeks

How long did it take you to feel comfortable and/or confident? I'm still waiting. I think I will be waiting awhile to feel confident, and will probably never feel comfortable.

Did you ever consider you made a mistake going in this field? No, but I've had many instances where I was in tears before/after my shift - convinced that I was a horrible nurse, that I never wanted to come back, that I hated my job, etc. etc. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but it's also the most rewarding.

[LKB82]

I've been working L&D for a year and a half now, but about a year on my own.

Did you work in Ante, L&D, PP, or nursery? L&D and Antepartum.

Did you have previous nursing experience? Nope, I was hired as a new grad.

How long was your orientation? 6 months. And thank God for the long and extensive orientation, because I don't think I would have felt safe being on my own any sooner.

How long did it take you to feel comfortable and/or confident? That's a loaded question. There are still some days that I question myself a lot. I think I was working on the unit a little over a year when I really felt like things were falling into place. But I think I noticed a gradual progression over the first year with certain things, my skills improved, my night just went smoother, I wasn't quite as nervous all the time, I felt like I could handle more situations. Don't get me wrong, I still ask a lot of questions, and I have several experienced nurses in particular that are always willing to give me advice or assistance when I ask.

Did you ever consider you made a mistake going in this field? Throughout much of my orientation period I really thought I made a huge mistake. I didn't expect learning to be a nurse and learning to be a L&D nurse at the same time was going to be so difficult. Additionally, I had some lousy luck at the beginning. I took it personally when my patient's got sectioned or if the baby went to NICU, and I had all kinds of crazy stuff happen. It took me a very long time to come across a "normal delivery." At the time I didn't find any of it humorous or even appreciate the experience. Looking back on it now I realize how lucky I am to have experienced so many unique things. When I talk to friends that work at other hospitals I realize how much more I have been able to experience and learn than they have I guess it all depends on how you look at it.

[mitchsmom]

Did you work in Ante, L&D, PP, or nursery? Our unit was an LDRP until last April; now I do ante, L&D, pp when someone is on mag sulfate and occasionally float to regular PP

Did you have previous nursing experience? no

How long was your orientation? 12 wks

How long did it take you to feel comfortable and/or confident? I feel comfortable most of the time now but I feel like we really work as a team & we always bounce stuff off of each other; I would not be comfortable if we didn't have that atmosphere. While I think I have a good intuition for a lot of it, I still rely on the experience of others at times. I don't think anyone should ever get too confident in the sense that you should always question, and be open to new ideas.

Did you ever consider you made a mistake going in this field? no