Best/Worst List of L&D nursing

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If you had to pick 1 thing as the best & 1 thing as the worst, what would you pick? I'm trying to decide if I should accept an L&D offer. So bombard me with your favorite aspects & the worst aspects! Thanks so much!

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Best: Being witness to the creation of a new family. I always feel blessed to be a part of it. Also, the knowledge that I am helping to create memories that the woman will carry with her for the rest of her life. This is a really awe-inspiring realization.

Worst: Vomit. I don't do well with other people's vomit.

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Best: being labour support through a difficult labour and seeing the looks on the parents' faces when they realize it was all worth it.

Worst: still births and situations in which the patient or partner feel powerless or not in control of their experience.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Pros- Adorable babies. Being a part of such a wonderful, blessed time in a couple or woman's life. The generally slower pace, depending on shift of course. The fact that on average, you have healthy, happy patients. Managing to get a difficult breast feeding figured out, seeing the smile on the parents face when you get a good latch and hear a hungry baby gulping away.

Cons-Stillbirths. Having to involve child services when you suspect abuse, or when mom comes back positive for drugs, then baby does too. Seeing the completely heartbroken look on a parents face when their baby is born with a defect or disorder they did not see coming at all, regardless of testing. Having a mother break down in your arms and cry over how she feels like a failure for not being able to nurse their baby when they wanted to do it so badly (sometimes, its just not meant to be!)

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Best: We work with nature, not against it, not many specialties can say that. We have mostly good outcomes. We are a part of the best moments of a family's life.

Worst: The bad outcomes. The stress. Like another poster listed: the vomit and also my major gross-out is the pooping while pushing :)

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Specializes in high risk OB.

The best part of L&D is being a part of biggest day of our patients' lives. The way you manage a labor can completely influence her experience. Being a positive, encouraging nurse can make all the difference. When a family has an unexpected outcome, their nurse can support and comfort them and show them the care and extra attention they need. I leave my unit every day with a small sense of accomplishment, knowing I made a big difference.

The worst part is watching parent's grieve if their baby dies or is a stillborn. Nothing makes that pain go away. Heartwrenching every time.

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Best: A unit of triage, emergency, OR, and one on one intimate patient care experiencing miracles every day with the BEST patient population in nursing!

Worst: Stillbirths/fetal demise, stress, liability and q15m+ charting.

Okay, that was a few things. :)

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Best: Making a positive difference in such an important life event.

Worst: Oh that's a far longer list, but doesn't outweigh the good! Fetal loss, bad tracings, obnoxious family members, physicians whose knowledge doesn't match their ego, patients who use $100 of drugs/day but "couldn't afford" prenatal care, charting, charting and charting. :)

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You will be more likely to find more bests and deal better with the worsts if you are committed to ob nursing and love it. I work pp and another nurse there, you van just tell she hates it- I mean there is a lot of pressure and heavy workloads but I still love it mainly because I'm a breastfeeding nerd:) but that doesn't help her. So for me, the bests and worsts of postpartum nursing:

Best: getting a baby to latch!

Worst: for me it is dealing with circumcisions. I'm not against it per se, I mean we circ'd my son but the whole thing skeezes me out. I cannot assist in them and I hate doing the dressing changes. I like teaching parents to care for them extra special afterwards though.

I love postpartum nursing so much that even when I had an anencehalic baby who was dying and on comfort measures only, and I cried big tears with the family, I still loved my job.

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I am the same with vomit! Just about to start my clinical rotation on l&d and peds. How do you deal with the vomiting when it happens on such a frequent basis, do you develop sort of a desensitization to it? I really think I would love l&d and mother baby but I'm worried I'll get to grossed out with the vomit that it'll affect my ability to be the best I can be. Advice?

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I don't see vomit all that much, maybe once a month? You get used to it, at least I did. Busy your mind with ways to help ease their nausea instead of man that is gross- it becomes more objective and clinical and takes away some of the grossness. But the only nursing specialty where you won't see stinky bodily functions would be behind a desk!

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery, Homecare.

Worst: When the patient smells like dirt/smoke/urine, not when pushing and whatnot, but just not good hygiene. Or the drug addicts.

Best: The fact you get to see their newborn that they have waited for for 9 months in less than 12 hours.

-Janine

Amazon.com: Nurse Your Wallet Book : Finding More Ways To Get Paid With Your Degree eBook: Janine Kelbach: Kindle Store

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