For anyone who went straight into Mother-Baby/L&D as a new grad, do you have any regrets?

Published

Hi! I'm a new grad who's been offered 2 positions, one in Mother-Baby and one in an ICU. My goal throughout nursing school was to be a labor and delivery nurse one day but I've been debating getting experience first such as in critical care before pursuing it. Has anyone gone straight into L&D/Mother-Baby/OB after graduating, do you have any regrets about it?

Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I'm sorry. This sounds like a bad unit with not enough staffing or mentorship. I think it can be amazing or awful, depending on the culture of the unit. I wouldn't necessarily write of OB entirely.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

None whatsoever!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yes and no. I went to L&D as a new grad but I became afraid of specializing too early, so I left after 9 months to go to a cardiac med/surg floor as a path to critical care. I spent just over a year there, now I'm 4 months into an ICU job. You know what? I hate it and want to go back to OB. The experience has shown me that OB is really what I love and where I want to be. I'm just afraid that I have ruined my chances now.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Obstetrics.

I’m sorry to hear that!! What exactly is it that you dread?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

So jealous! I graduated waaaaaaaaaay back in 1995 and my dream was to do L&D and Mother-baby. At that time, no one was hiring new grads into those units. No one. I ended up on a completely different career path in nursing and have no regrets, BUT still have that longing for L&D and Mother-Baby. At this stage in my life I couldn't handle shift work, nights, etc. so it is not in the cards for me I guess.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion