Were u required to have experience before doing OBGYN nursing?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

I recently found out that my hospital requires at least 1 year of medsurg experience to enter OBGYN program.

Do u feel it makes a difference?

Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

Fergus, with all due respect to your experience and opinions, I just plain think you are incorrect.....I did pedi, med surg, cardiac care, diabetic teaching, home health and chronic rehab pedi before I ever tried OB...I am SO not saying those of you who didn't do that aren't as talented, knowlegable (so can't spell after 3 horrible night shifts) BUT I AM telling you that in this matter, anyone with prior experience or experience in other areas is MUCH better served for OB.....I certainly think we all learn by osmosis and experience and the more the better. Simple fact.....

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Good thing is:

there is ROOM FOR ALL OF US!!!

Have a good day everyone!

Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

Exactly, and MANY MANY more nurses AND good days to all of YOU!

I was hired into the OB unit from working the past six years in Long tern care!!! I just got lucky and our hospital had just changed it's policy from having to work on M/S for 2 years before you could cross train!! ALso it really helped that I had 7 kids, all the nurses in the unit knew me and my own Doc recommended me for the job!!!!

THe OB nurses still have to float out on m/s if they are bombarded and our census is low. UCK! I am NOT a med/surg nurse....it is just not for me; but you gotta do what you gotta do!!!

Last year, our hospital went back to the policy of having to work m/s before you could cross train to OB or ER again!! GO figure!!!

ALL I know is I love my job and wouldn't trade OB for any other!!!

Paulette:D

I had desperately wanted to go straight into OB out of school, but my path lead my to med surg/cardiology for 2 years first and I think it was better that way. Because OB is such a high risk area it is good to have a strong background in other areas of nursing just so you have experience to learn and improve from. The facility I work at sees 250+ deliveries a month and plenty of high risk to boot. Everyday I am using skills and teaching new nurses clinical stuff that was common in med surg but not so much in OB and I feel it is a great asset. If I had to do it again, I would do it the same way.......well maybe 18 months of med surg instead. Good luck to you in whatever path you choose.:roll

I came to L&D with one year of ER experience (in a small hospital) and that's it. I don't believe that my lack of med-surg experience was a problem for learning straight up L&D/PP/newborn. HOWEVER, where I DO see the difference is when we get a complicated pt. Even in the large very busy OB unit where I work now, we don't see enough insulin and heparin drips, PICC lines, cardiac problems, etc for me to feel comfortable taking care of these pts even after many years. I DO take care of them, but it makes me nervous and I have to do a lot of looking things up and asking questions of those with more experience in those areas.

So, I guess my answer is that I believe med-surg is valuable experience to have, but NOT absolutely necessary. I myself would not have been a nurse had I not found a job that didn't require med surg experience first - THAT'S how much I hated med surg! And THAT'S how much I admire those who love it and are good at it!

Linda

PS - for what it's worth, the earlier poster who wrote that it was sad that her unit fought taking a PE pt - it's been the same everywhere I have worked OB, and my own opinion is that the pt is much better off in a unit that specializes and has experience in that type of serious illness.

A nurse is a nurse is a nurse - NOT!

Try giving an ICU nurse a pt in labor and see what happens...........

Well, I'm a new grad and I haven't started working yet, although I did just accept a position as a L&D nurse. I did however do my last semester of clinicals on a med/surg/ telemetry/ICU stepdown floor. I took a full patient load and did total care, and I think I got a lot of experience. I did not have a preceptor or the help of an instructor. I really didn't like it that much, and I am VERY glad that there are hospitals that will hire new grads into L&D, because i feel like taking a job in MEd/surg would have killed my desire to be a nurse. It was not for me. I much preferred L&D, peds, NICU?PICU or even good old ICU to Med/surg. I think I learned a lot of valuable things, like you all have said here, insulin drips, PICC lines, etc. But I definately would NOT have been able to survive that floor any longer than my clinicals lasted! So, I hope I can say that my clinical practice was sufficient to orient me to the medical needs of my pregnant patients. Maybe in a year or so I will have some better comments on this subject!

Originally posted by babynurse32

I am a new nurse who went right into OB. I am so glad I did it that way. I don't think you need prior experience if you have a good preceptor and orientation set up.

Do I think it's necessary to have a year of med/surg before working OB/GYN? - NO! I do think you should have a years experience in something like med/surg before entering OB/GYN. Before you freak out those were two different things, and my opinion only holds true to students. I don't think it's necessary for you to perform your duties as a nurse; however, I think it's a good idea. I don't think it's a good idea for a student to walk out of nursing school into a focused area. They (the GN) will pick it up, and do a great job and be a wonderful nurse in that area. The problem how I see it comes when they decide it's time to move on to another area. A good deal of what they learned in school will have never been nurtured, and it may very well be lost because they decided to stay in OB/GYN clinicals.:chair:

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