Any post-partum nurses here

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 2, 2002

I do all of it; labor/delivery/pp and newborn as well as GYN. IF PP is all you want, you are best off applying at a LARGE hospital where L and D are separate from the others......and even then, you may be asked to cross-train and float there at times. It is part and parcel of what the business is about. I feel it strongly behooves anyone to learn it all even when they choose an area they prefer so that a clear understanding of the whole process is achieved and we all understand each other more. You need to understand something about LABOR to be a good postpartum nurse, if you ask me. :cool:

Dayray, RN · Sep 2, 2002

I'm a post pardom nurse. I work at two hospitals

Hospital 1 - I work on LDRP or GYN, I take post pardum patients on both floors as well as GYN patients and help with L&D stuff on LDRP.

Hospital 2 - I work on post pardum (L&D and post pardum are seperate here) at this hospital I take care of both mom and baby.

I agree with smileing if you are going to work PP or L&D you should know the other area too.

As far as new grads in PP... Well Im a new grad and I havent heard any complaints from staff or patients. At times Ive felt I was over my head but with help I have always managed to provide safe and quality care. If you go to work on a GYN/PP floor and take GYN patients you will basicly be doing med/surge. GYN patinents are pretty much med/surg except that they are all females.

I love my job. I get to do so much teaching, allot of hand holding and things bordering on counciling. There are lots of oppertunitys to really help people in PP. I find oppertunitys to be a patient advocate, on an almost daily basis.

Their are only a few things I don't like about my job. PP, GYN, and nursery sometimes are treated as the step childern of L&D. It's not uncommon for me to be pulled to help in L&D even when we are busy in PP and money flows toward L&D. I can't really think of much else and thats not even that bad.

PP offers a rare oppertunity in nursing. You get to fix peoples problems rather then just comfort them threw them.

When they have pain you take it away, you answer there questions about how to care for their baby, you get to be the shoulder to cry on when emotions run high (which they almost always do in PP) and when patinets leave they thank you and you know you made a difference in their familys life.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions =)

mark_LD_RN · Sep 2, 2002

i also do it all we are a LDRP. I agree with smilingblueeys also. you should know somehing of L&D to be a good postpartum nurse. as far as new grads go i like most of them as long as they come in willing to learn , i really dislike the ones that come in and think hey know everything and will not listen. as my first concern is for our patients.

i really like pospartum many because of the teaching aspect, you do a lo of patient teaching. i don't always like dealing with families and some of the family dynamics can be real trying. jus read some of the post on other hreads like insane visitors,ec. well good luck let me know if i can be of anyhelp or provide you with any info .glad to answer any quesions you have if i can

prn nurse · Sep 2, 2002

I worked a couple of years on PP. New grads can work there very well. At my hospital, L&D is separate, & nursery is separate. All three are under the same nurse manager, but the staff is not interchangeable from one area to another. Each area is considered its' own specialty.

To work in a facilility like this, it has to be a large hospital &/or a hospital where a lot of babies are born.....say, 150-200 a month minimum. The PP nurses at my hospital have been there anywhere from 10 to 30 years. They came and loved it.

It helps to go to your medical bookstore and buy some books on breastfeeding and postpartum care.

All teaching of breastfeeding and most infant care teaching is done by PP nurses. A large part of their responsibilities is in the teaching. New moms receive several hours of teaching.

On PP, GYN patients are usually there too. So , you may have women having gyn surgeries on your unit.....any problems associated with hysterectomies, lady partsl, rectal prolapses, "pelvic relaxation" type surgeries, female urinary tract surgeries, and of course C-sections.

So, you will have a lot of post-ops, and those are interesting.

Admissions for scheduled C-sections are challenges, fetal monitoring and interpreting the monitoring....you will take classes and become certified in that.....

Mom's with pregnancy induced hypertension and in crisis are huge responsibilities....and a challenge. IV magnesium administration and monitoring for siezures, etc. is a challenge.

So, to sum up, it is much more challenging than it seems at first glance. Go for it.

The best thing about nursing is you can always switch if it isn't for you. Initially, go for what appeals to you. You may still be there in 2032 !

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 2, 2002

Personally, I like doing it ALL cause I never get bored and my ability to do it all makes me MUCH MORE MARKETABLE. Don't limit yourself if you can avoid it. Doing just one thing would make my life very dull. and teaching is part of ALL AREAS not just PP....you better be a good communicator and teacher if you want to do any aspect of nursing.......that is a fact. This is particularly true in any area of OB, labor, pp, or newborn nursing. Teaching is a HUGE part of what we do. I wish you luck! Feel free to PM me if you have questions. will be glad to help you!

peaceful2100, BSN, RN · Sep 2, 2002

Thanks everyone. If I decided to do OB then I will learn about both L&D and postpartum. The hospital I will work for after graduation have the two seperated but that is something to think about learning both in case I would be floated to L&D. I am making the pros and cons to both OB and Pediatric nursing. I really liked both of the clinicals but the more I think about it the more I really like OB.

I am a student who likes to learn as much as possible and I would never come in as a new grad thinking I know it all because I know in all reality I won't know it all. I will only know the basics. When it comes time to choosing my senior capstone. I will either choose OB and Peds but more and more lately I am leaning towards the OB side.

I am now 22 years old but I had my daughter when I was 17 years old and the OB nurses are the main one's who really inspired me to become a nurse and it was not because of their good care, it was because of their horrible bed side manner and they way they treated me. They treated me like some poor minority, unwed, uneducated mother. They did not know nothing about me, what kind of family I came from or nothing. It really made me upset and I said NO one because of their race, age, education or any other differences deserve less care. I do my best to NEVER be like that.

Many of those nurses that treated me like that are no longer on at that hospital on that unit.

I realized that there are many wonderful OB nurses out there though because I seen them during my OB rotation. I am really glad that there are MANY wonderful OB nurses out there and if I go into OB I will strive to become one.

mark_LD_RN · Sep 3, 2002

Hey peaceful2100--- i find it interesting that you were inspiredto be a nurse for one of the same reasons i was. during our first childs birth i found the L&D nurses so rude and unprofessional that i want to be a nurse to improve the situation. that was a long time ago. and thankfully i have meet many wonderful ob /L&D nurses since then. i now realize they probly got into nursing for the wrong reason