Advice please! Beginning L&D internship next week

I graduated in May 2004 and started working in L&D in June 2004. While I was in school I did a short preceptorship (50 hours) in L&D. Starting as a new grad in L&D I was given a 12 week orientation period.

You will not be expected to know much to begin with, as most nursing schools spend only a short period of time focused on the labor and delivery process. You will be expected to know how to perform a head to toe assessment. You will probably be given a class to help learn to read fetal monitor strips. You will not be expected to know how to perform a cervical exam or assess dilation, effacement or station. But you will be expected to know what these terms mean and the basics behind cervical change during labor.

Most likely you will spend several weeks shadowing a nurse, and will not be expected to care for patients on your own. Take advantage of this time, and ask lots of questions. After several weeks you may be assigned one patient to care for, but you will most likely still have a nurse designated to follow up with you and guide you as needed.

Good luck to you, with an open mind and willingness to learn you will do great. Just go with the flow. And remember to ask questions, there are millions of things to learn.

Hopefully they have assigned you a good preceptor/mentor. Be sure to ask lots of questions. Observe who you feel are the best care providers on the unit and learn how they work----mimic their habits. NEVER EVER pretend to know what you don't. It's dangerous and will get you in trouble sooner than later. If you don't know, you don't know---own up to it and ask. I can't say how many I have seen who made the mistake of foolish bravado and pretending to know what they did not---only to get themselves or their patients in trouble.

Get familiar with the report sheets or kardexes fast----they are your friend. If you do computer charting, you can print out a report sheet and write details on it such as medications, times, changes in conditions, labs, etc. for report. Have your stuff together at report so you can get out on time and get the next shift off on a good foot.

Also, make sure you keep up on charting as much as possible. Esp. in L/D, it is easy to get behind. It's like a snowball going downhill. The more you get behind, the harder it is to catch up. And your notes need to be thorough and nearly flawless to stand up in court. Making sure you stay on top as you go, helps you write them as things are fresh and your memory good. Believe me, if you learn this early, you will be glad you did.

Be a sponge those first couple weeks. Just observe and take in as much as possible....watch everything, volunteer for every learning opportunity. If it's slow one day you are on, ask to be let go to return when the pace has picked up and you have more on the floor going---more to learn. If nothing is going on, try to just be on call---and make yourself available when it's busy; you will learn the most that way in the short time of your internship.

Good luck---I hope some of these suggestions help. You are lucky. I entered LDRP minus any real internship----just 4 months of very fast-paced and tough orientation with all the different nurses. It was a real baptism by fire for me. But 8 years later, I am still loving OB and doing fine. I wish you the best.

Also, see the new nurse/student and recommended reading threads for MUCH more info and references to help you on your way to learning OB nursing. There is lots of good stuff in those threads.

The main thing I learned when I was orenting was to eliminate the phrase "I Know" from your vocabulary. Anytime you can get advise from someone listen to it, it doesnt mean you need to take it (unless you working under their license) but you can learn even from bad advise and the likelyhood is that it will actually be good advise.

They dont expect you to know everything just to be willing to learn and use common sense. In otherr areas of nusrsing people expect you to be assertive and know your stuff even during orentaion. In L&D they want you to ask questions.

L&D nursing is based in knowlage and skill but much of it requires an intuativness that only comes with experance. Your preceptor will expect you to need her help in the begining.

Dont worry you'll be Okay and people won't expect you to be super nurse out of the box.

Thank you all so much for your input! I'm excited and ready to be where you all are, with some experience behind me and in a position to share the same encouragement with others. Thanks so much!

I hope your career is everything you have hoped for, and more! Good luck and let us know how things are going, ok?