What ever happened to "mother nature"?

Ok, So yes, I am a new grad and very "wet behind the ears" but I have gone through the labor process 4 times over now and I am what you could say a nontraditional nurse - starting when I am 31. Needless to say, I grew up in the Northeast, where drinking, smoking, and drugs were unheard of during pregnancy. Culture shock - in TN where I am practicing lets just say I have had more than one social work consult for +THC tests. Regardless the hospital I am working in is a small rural hospital with a great family birth unit - all LDRP rooms.

My question to all the practicing L&D nurses is - does your hospital attempt to schedule ALL the births that are expected? I would say that less than 5% of the births we deliver were spontaneous. It is routine practice where I work to schedule an induction on the woman's 39th week. Not only that, but I have witnessed 2 failed VBAC's already - why did they fail? because it got past 5 oclock in the evening and the physician wanted to go home for the night - so after letting the poor woman labor all day long - because she didn't make it to 10 cm dialated by the time the Dr. thought his day should end - she got a c-section. It just doesn't seem fair. Nevermind the fact that at 39 weeks you are hoping that the due date is correct (I know it is verified with ultrasound but still...).

So is this a standard practice now? I am already thinking after just a couple of weeks that I will grin and bear it for the first year and then move on to a different hospital - but if this is a standard practice in L&D now, then I think I need to find a different area of nursing because it seems just wrong to me.

Thanks for any input.