Did anyone try L&D and hate it?

HM2VikingRN, RN · May 28, 2008

I'll pass om LD. I enjoyed my student rotation but it really isn't my cup of tea.

Barkow · May 28, 2008

I'm an LDRP nurse and certainly don't hate the L&D part, but I think my negative feelings come from the fact that depending on what kind of environment you grew up in and even the TV shows you watch (ie. A Baby Story), you have a certain view of birth and the emotions that you expect to come along with it.

But then you see the reality when you start working - certainly some births are the wonderful television types, with two loving parents well-prepared on all things baby and truly planned for and wanted that child. But all too often the job involves seeing 18-year-olds having their 3rd baby, women having a 4th after the first three were taken away, pregnant 14-year-olds, conflicts with the FOB's new girlfriend showing up at the hospital creating drama, you get the picture. And many times you have to discharge babies into some very shady circumstances (social services does nothing around here), and it gets depressing.

nightingale67 · Jun 1, 2008

I am with Jenrninmi. I have worked many different areas- peds, M/S,tele, PCU, transplant, and ortho. But, L&D is my love. I enjoy what I am doing and for the most part very satisfied.

That is what is so amazing about being a nurse. If there is an area you do not like...you have the opportunity to change it. If pt care is not for you, management might be the answer. If you find out you are not a people person at all, go into research. It is a good think that all of us do not like the same area....that would pose a very big problem.

*S*

~J

q12RN · Jun 1, 2008

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE-----working in L&D. Worked in other areas and never want to leave this one :) Sure every job has it's pitfalls, but 99% of the time I'm happy.

RNperdiem, RN · Jun 1, 2008

My trauma patients in ICU don't come in expecting a miraculous, awesome and completely painless "experience". Their expectations are more realistic.

The touchy political issues that send emotional firestorms are absent in SICU. Pain is a problem to be treated. People vary in their pain tolerance, but nobody here is bragging about natural trauma without drugs.

happybunny1970 · Jun 1, 2008

That is what is so amazing about being a nurse. If there is an area you do not like...you have the opportunity to change it. If pt care is not for you, management might be the answer. If you find out you are not a people person at all, go into research. It is a good think that all of us do not like the same area....that would pose a very big problem.
*S*
~J

Thank You, Captain Obvious! I can't believe the number of fellow nurses I run into each and every day who so clearly HATE the positions they are in... and yet there is so much opportunity! I say, if you become bored or jaded... move on! There are TONS of positions for RNs out there: Bedside, research, technical, telephone, clinical, organizational, legal... the list goes on and on...

schoolnurse09 · Jun 11, 2008

Yep, hated it. I worked postpartum/nursery for 7 years (I loved that), then trained in L&D. I thought I would like it, but it was a bad fit for my personality and tolerance for intense situations and stress. I prayed every day on the way to work that nothing bad would happen that night..... I did it for 2 years to give it a fair shot, then left. I had to quit, because at the hospital I worked for..if you are trained , you HAVE to work L&D as well as postpartum and lots of times back and forth during the same shift. That was the end of my hospital nursing career, as I didn't want to be in any other hospital setting. I went to a Peds office for almost 9 years- and now getting ready to be a school nurse.

daisybaby, LPN · Jun 11, 2008

I mostly loved L&D. What I did not love was:

-spending more time playing maid/customer service ambassador than I did doing actual nursing care or teaching (and being told by management to do so)

-drowning in unsafe staffing conditions and calling the unit director for help only to hear "well, what do you want ME to do?"

-bringing up ideas supported through evidence-based practice only to be shot down since "we've always done things OUR way"

-other RNs in the hospital saying "That must be ice, getting to hold babies all day long!"

-management who cared more about PressGaneys than patient care and safety

Which is precisely why I took a job with a state health dept., where my opinion is not only valued but sought after, staff are treated professionally, and we are encouraged to think for ourselves.

RNmama05 · Jun 11, 2008

Pain is a problem to be treated. People vary in their pain tolerance, but nobody here is bragging about natural trauma without drugs.

It's funny, but I've never heard anyone brag about natural labor without drugs. What I do hear is people who choose not to go drug free getting really defensive about their choice and complaining about how they're "made" to feel bad about it.

shazniko · Jun 21, 2008

Hi

I have been a midwife for 13 years now and I can honestly say I HATE L&D! I think it is a place you either love or hate - there is no in-between. Its like NICU - a lot of midwives hate it but others love it!

I couldn't be bothered with the hanging around with a screaming woman on a 12hr shift and having nothing to show for it if she hadn't delivered before the end of your shift. If they did deliver, there were only so many times I was willing to be verbally abused, kicked, nipped, shoved etc just because they thought they had the right cos they were in pain! I used to dread going into work every day.

Epidurals are also a nightmare because you have to stay with the woman - great fun if she isn't much of a conversationalist!

Definitely not my cup of tea, I found my niche in NICU.

Vito Andolini · Jun 21, 2008

i did my internship in l&d and liked it but i've found i love mother/baby way more.
my best friend did her internship in l&d and got a job right out of nursing school worked a year and left. she left because the enormous responsibility and liability was too much for her to risk. think about it, in most states the parents can sue you up to what 21-23 years later?? maybe that small decel caused them a brief deprivation of oxygen and they sue you because johnny is special ed? you know maybe you spent over an hour trying to get the doctor to come access the strip and he just kept telling you to give her oxygen and turn her, etc and you tried to tell him about decels, etc and he still dragged his a$$ in on his time only to do an emergency section with the baby going to the nicu with apgars of 3/5 and later to find out the kid has mild cerebral palsy. ok who gets blamed? the nurse of course.
if it's your dream-make sure you have good malpractice insurance and you are up on your game with good assessment skills and ball$ to get a doc on the phone to be an advocate for your patients!

with proper, truthful charting, with you keeping a copy of your charting or some very good notes about it, with filling out and keeping a copy of incident reports, (since charts and ir's tend to get lost and rewritten), with letting the supervisor in on how the doctor is refusing to show up, with calling the attending or the chief of service, your director, manager, and administration if need be, how will the nurse be blamed? this is war.:argue: :yeah: :eek: :devil:

Vito Andolini · Jun 21, 2008

I mostly loved L&D. What I did not love was:
-spending more time playing maid/customer service ambassador than I did doing actual nursing care or teaching (and being told by management to do so)
-drowning in unsafe staffing conditions and calling the unit director for help only to hear "well, what do you want ME to do?"
-bringing up ideas supported through evidence-based practice only to be shot down since "we've always done things OUR way"
-other RNs in the hospital saying "That must be ice, getting to hold babies all day long!"
-management who cared more about PressGaneys than patient care and safety
Which is precisely why I took a job with a state health dept., where my opinion is not only valued but sought after, staff are treated professionally, and we are encouraged to think for ourselves.

You must be in a state other than mine. :chuckle