L&D NA/PCA What do I need to know?

starry_midnight · Aug 13, 2012

I see this is over a month old now. Just curious how things are going & what your job responsibilities ended up being. I'm a PCT on a L&D/PP unit. :)

nerol · Aug 14, 2012

Hi Starry, can you give me an idea of what your shift/duites are like?

Thanks

WannaBNursey, ADN, ASN, RN · Aug 15, 2012

Could you tell us what your interview was like? I always wanted to work in L&D but nothing has opened up.

harristh27 · Mar 16, 2014

hey what are your duties are in L/D as a pct. i'm currently in school now as a pct and is interesting in that department as well

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2014

In my area, they hire unit clerks/pcts. Usually they help to fill out paperwork to make sure that the stuff will be filed appropriately, page doctors, get vital signs, and hold babies.

cdsavannah59, CNA · Mar 21, 2014

I work mother/baby unit as a PCT. We have only one PCT per shift on a 25 bed unit. We do vitals every 4 hours on 12 1/2 hours shifts. I do mom vitals am while nurse checks baby vitals in am. During vitals I pass out ice, juice, remove trash. The other two rounds of vitals I have to do both mom and baby vitals. In between vitals I give babies their first baths, help escort babies to testing areas at hospital, check blood sugar levels if needed, draw blood if needed( most blood draws are done by our nightshift, I work day shift so not allot of blood draws thankfully. I also measure urine, remove catheters, take used sharps to sterile processing, keep hallways clear of unused equipment, watch front desk if needed etc. . Most days our unit is full or almost full, so it seems like most of my day is spent doing 50 sets of vitals at noon and 4pm (mom and baby) . I love my job but it seems so repetitive doing all those vitals in the afternoon lol. I also work with some amazing nurses. I'm lucky to work with such a great staff because we all work together to get things done, they are not the type to try to pile all the extras on me, if they see I'm real busy they will do it themselves.

harristh27 · Mar 21, 2014

thank you for the information. what state do you stay in.

Key Lime Pie · Apr 4, 2014

I work in the mother/baby center of a large hospital in Minnesota. All of our PCAs rotate between L&D, triage/OR and postpartum. In L&D we do no patient care at all. It's all stocking, cleaning, and keeping the unit organized. We have to take all the used labor tools to central sterile processing and make runs to lab to drop off urine, blood or tissue samples.

On postpartum we do the most patient care. We round on all the patients, bringing them water or juice or extra linen and we remove trash and used linen. We set up rooms for new patients and keep the unit organized, making sure everything is stocked and clean. On night shift (when I work), we mostly help out in the nursery, holding and feeding the babies. We usually have 9-12 babies in the nursery overnight. We also do hearing screenings on the babies.

In the triage/OR we do a lot of stocking. We have to set up the ORs, making sure everything is ready to go. We walk patients from the waiting room to the triage area, get their weight and a urine sample, then take them to their triage room. And when we have a c-section, the nurses take the patient back to the OR, and when they're ready the PCA walks the patient's companion back there.

JDZ344 · Apr 8, 2014

Our L&D, the nursing assistants:

- Check vitals for the new mums (midwives or nursery assistants do the babies)

- Escort babies for testing

- Personal care (especially for post c-section women) and basic care of baby (nappies, feeds, baths, etc) if mum can not do it herself.

- Blood tests for the mother (midwives do the babies)

- Escort mother to car on discharge and ensure the car seat is set up safely

- Cleaning, stocking, etc.

I don't much like L&D, I tend to stick to medical or surgical floors.

harristh27 · Apr 11, 2014

thanks for sharing that information with me.

harristh27 · Apr 11, 2014

thanks for sharing