ER vs. L&D

[auson16]

Hello,

I wanted to ask a more objective audience this question.

I may have to opportunities arising: one for the Emergency Department and one for Labor and Delivery.

Can nurses in these specialities tell me what they love/don't love and what you believe that it takes personality wise to be successful? I know they are apples and oranges but just want some input on each specialty.

thanks!

[nancynance]

I think both departments have a lot of similarities in that we have to triage patients and we never know what's going to be walking in the door. However, I think L&D nurses should have some sort of interest in birth and women's health in order to be really good nurses. ER patients are coming in because something's wrong, and most L&D patients aren't because birth is a normal physiological process. :-)

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

That's basically a good comparison. I'm an ER nurse. My patients generally are there because something is wrong with their health. We generally just wave to our OB patients that are >20 weeks as they head over to the OB department for certain complaints. OB patients are generally healthy and their major issue is the fact that they're pregnant and on the way to giving birth. Sometimes there are complications that are devastating to the family (loss of baby, mother, or both) but the ER generally doesn't want to even attempt to take care of those patients. We'll try to ship them out somewhere that can expertly handle them...

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

That's basically a good comparison. I'm an ER nurse. My patients generally are there because something is wrong with their health. We generally just wave to our OB patients that are >20 weeks as they head over to the OB department for certain complaints. OB patients are generally healthy and their major issue is the fact that they're pregnant and on the way to giving birth. Sometimes there are complications that are devastating to the family (loss of baby, mother, or both) but the ER generally doesn't want to even attempt to take care of those patients. We'll try to ship them out somewhere that can expertly handle them...

That was the case when I was pregnant at the hospital and clinics where I delivered. The OB became your primary care provider. Everything was deferred to the OB and if you needed to go to the ER at any point once you were under care of an OB you went straight to LDRP floor. Spent plenty of time there getting fluids [emoji15] thanks for HG. I was even turfed to LDRP floor when I went to the ER with a 104.7 degree fever and mastitis 3 weeks pp.

[apillarofsalt]

ED if you like variety and work well under pressure, L&D if you have a passion for women's health. I'm transitioning from ED to L&D and they're so different. I'm glad I did ED first, because you see so much more and learn good general skills that you won't in a more limited patient population.