Don't tell me my job isn't important!!!!!!!!!

gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN · Feb 2, 2011

Typical stuff that is unique to nursing. No one can get along. Just like when I floated to another floor. The nurses said "it must be nice on your floor where its more like a hotel." They were implying all we do is get our patients soft drinks. This is what keeps keeps nurses from working together. Sorry you had a bad shift. Too bad it has to be like this.

greenfiremajick · Feb 2, 2011

Typical stuff that is unique to nursing. No one can get along. Just like when I floated to another floor. The nurses said "it must be nice on your floor where its more like a hotel." They were implying all we do is get our patients soft drinks. This is what keeps keeps nurses from working together. Sorry you had a bad shift. Too bad it has to be like this.

Don't you ever find yourself just agreeing w/them and in eloquent/grandiose terms begin to extol the virtues and wonderment of what an easy job you have? If it were me, I'd prob be a smarta$$ and start describing the cabana boys we are provided and how I'm about to take a dip in our secret pool, then relax in the hot tub......After which, I would be getting my free daily rub-down...Then smile and walk away...................................

L&DRNC · Feb 2, 2011

I work in a unit where all of OB is one unit. Most of our RNs can work in all areas and even then it is no different. There is a definite us versus them just based on the days assignments. Part of me just thinks it's too many women in one department (there's 120 of us). Sorry to hear it's not any better elsewhere. What you do in postpartum is very important and can make all the difference in that new family's experience. You may not be the face they put on the fridge for the next year but without the guidance and support they recieve on postpartum they wouldn't leave ready to be the best parents possible. Keep up the good work.

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2011

.....sooooooo, I was working in Labor and Delivery last night.......I am a postpartum nurse.....there have been a few times when I was called by L&D nurses for report on a patient being transferred after delivery, and I had to tell the L&D staff to just "give me a few minutes" because I was so busy on my unit, but thses times were few and far in between.....so at work last night, I get an OB Tech and a L&D RN shoving these famous phrazes in my face...: "See how BUSY we are over here?!!! THIS IS WHY we try to give report to you guys so we can do other things.....L&D is sooooo HARD!!!!!!! MANY nurses have started in L&D and ended up in postpartum because they could not handle it......." yadda yadda yadda.....it's as if theY were trying to tell me that my job as a postpartum nurse was insignificant........TO THAT I SAY, IF IT WEREN'T THAT IMPORTANT, WHY NOT SEND THESE WOMEN HOME 1 HOUR AFTER THEY DELIVER!!!!!!!

I agree with you..postpartum is very important because if you are not on top of things, someone could bleed to death and die.

stephie_love · Feb 2, 2011

Don't let anyone bully you. ALL nursing positions are important. No one is better than anyone else.

End of story. :heartbeat

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Feb 2, 2011

There is some of that where I work, but for the most part it's okay because I have no desire to do L&D and appreciate them for what they do, and L&D appreciates mother/baby because they don't want to have 4-6 patients/2-3 other couplets on top of a postpartum hemorrhage. As anywhere there are slack nurses on both ends that can give a bad impression.

There are times when L&D busts their tails - like the night we had one mom bleed out and got over a dozen units of blood in the OR with both residents and both attendings in there before she went to ICU, and while this was going on there was a cord prolapse that had to be rushed back to another OR. And there are times when L&D is sitting up at their station with one induction on the board who's fast asleep.

There are nights when we are slow and get all kinds of downtime. But the one night I made 3 trips back and forth to the blood bank for the same patient - whose blood had to be run in over 4 hours per MD orders, and it made for a heck of a lot of VS - and have 3 other couplets who needed me too, well....no one in L&D thought I had a cake job. :)

Queen2u · Feb 2, 2011

Thanks, you guys, for the encouragement!!!!!! :redpinkhe:nurse:

NPinWCH · Feb 9, 2011

Well, sometimes I WISH I had some mother baby RNs! LOL, we do LDRP+nursery so it's not unusual to have a labor, an outpatient rule out labor and 2 moms and babies. Of course one of my moms could be fresh post-op or delivery as well. I'd love to have someone to hand off the post-partums OR the labor to.

Unfortunately, nursing tends to be a giant turf war.

My biggest complaint has always been that on a slow day/night, an OB nurse will be forced to float to another unit, but on our busy day/night with only 2 RNs and a tech (4 labors, 2 fresh sections, 2 post partum and a pretermer on O2 and IV in nursery) if we ask for help from med/surg with 2 RNs and 3 patients we are told, "We don't know how to help you...we've never been oriented...we're too scared...I just had an MRSA patient...I'm relieving her for her break..." It seems we can help out any other unit...ER, Med/surg, even ICU, but we can't expect them to ever help us.