Austin nurses!! Need help

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Specializes in OBGYN.

Okay. I need some advice from you Austin nurses. My main interest is L&D. I also have some interest in ICU, but L&D is where I think I'll ultimately end up. I graduated a year ago and have been staying home with my new baby until now, and now it's time to go to work. SO... I have a choice to make. There are no L&D positions available in any Seton hospital until February at the earliest, so I'm thinking of looking into ICU to get some good medical nursing experience and then transfer into L&D if my heart is still there.

(Is that a good idea, first of all?)

And then I need to know where a good ICU is to work.. Brack vs Seton Medical Center?

Or any others?

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Going to adult healthcare before going into L&D will make you a much better L&D nurse.

Since Brack is the trauma center and considered the "county" hospital, you will get a big variety of diagnoses including trauma. Seton has always been more of the elderly and heart issue place due to it not being the big trauma center and where it is located.

Haven't worked there in a while so I don't know what the staff and managers are like at either place. Back when I worked there, I preferred Brack for that particular specialty.

Either way, Seton has a much better educational department for all the hospitals. I wish I lived close enough to commute back there. I floated all the Seton facilities and miss it very much.

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Specializes in ICU, CVICU.

If your heart is in L&D, I would go into Med/Surg before transferring into L&D. The learning curve in the ICU is very steep and requires a lot of work to become knowledgeable and proficient. In my personal opinion, you would be doing the hospital and your unit a huge disservice by making them train you in ICU when you have no intention of staying. Also, if you don't have any experience (which I'm guessing based on your post), you are going to need an internship. You need to talk to the recruiters and see what they think about your situation. Best of luck!

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Glad you said that Labcat! I believe that medsurg is the place to start before specializing but usually get flamed for suggesting it.

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