this may sound like a silly question, as many people are probably thinking, "of course!" but after my interview last week i have been wondering...... does it really help to get into labor and delivery if you have worked on an ob floor? the nurse manager had described the job details of the ob floor nurse to me, which included floating up to the nicu when needed, but not to labor and delivery. she said that labor and delivery was "very different." so i am asking any or all l&d nurses, should i just try to obtain a regular med/surg position since so many l&d jobs require a year of med/surg? or would working on a maternity floor fulfill the med/surg requirement even though it's a specialized unit? i am just wondering if an l&d floor would look down on me if i didn't have that med/surg experience. especially because mostly only experienced nurses are able to obtain a job on the ob floor where i was offered a job, this isn't normally a concern for those that are trying to get into l&d.
i have two job opportunities and am unsure of what to do :/
The facility that I work in has seperate units for L&D, Nursery, and PP. All of the L&D nurses are cross trained to nursery and postpartum but the nursery and postpartum nurses only cross train to those areas. I have questioned this and the answer that I got was "L&D is too specialized". However, I would think that PP OR Nursery training would be a good stepping stone! For one, PP nurses learn post op care of C/S patients and also fundal rubs/recovery of a lady partsl delivery. ALL of those things are used in L&D. Also, at least on my unit, a background in nursery is fantastic in case nursery doesn't make it in time and you are the one to catch the baby in a lady partsl or cesarean delivery. Also comes in handy when the nursery nurse is alone trying to resusitate a bad baby. Labor nurse jumps in to help. All in all, I think any kind of OB experience would be handy! JMO :)
I was hired directly into a L&D/Postpartum float position. I didn't think that it would be possible for a new RN to get hired into such a position straight from nursing school. Luckily, I was proved wrong.
Even though L&D and M/B are within the same department, it can get competitive between units. Maybe that's why your manager said it's "very different". I work as a tech in postpartum and have for 6 years. I just graduated and was planning on working in postpartum. L&D has said they want me as well... so really, working on an OB floor, even if it is postpartum, people see your work ethic and know what you'll be like as a nurse and that means a lot to them. They'd rather hire someone from within who they know will do a good job, as opposed to some random person who they 'think' (based on an interview) will do a good job. I love my job and I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be. :) Good luck to you!
I got hired after graduation into LDRP...I do everything from antepartum to labor and delivery to post-partum and well baby nursery. I would imagine that working a year in ob would be more than enough to get you hired into L&D, you would use those skills more than what you get from M/S
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DeliveryRN2007
33 Posts
The facility that I work in has seperate units for L&D, Nursery, and PP. All of the L&D nurses are cross trained to nursery and postpartum but the nursery and postpartum nurses only cross train to those areas. I have questioned this and the answer that I got was "L&D is too specialized". However, I would think that PP OR Nursery training would be a good stepping stone! For one, PP nurses learn post op care of C/S patients and also fundal rubs/recovery of a lady partsl delivery. ALL of those things are used in L&D. Also, at least on my unit, a background in nursery is fantastic in case nursery doesn't make it in time and you are the one to catch the baby in a lady partsl or cesarean delivery. Also comes in handy when the nursery nurse is alone trying to resusitate a bad baby. Labor nurse jumps in to help. All in all, I think any kind of OB experience would be handy! JMO :)