Frustrations about L&D nursing

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

What are some of your frustrations about your job in L&D?

For me...I can list quite a few, but I'll keep it simple:

1 - Triple and quadruple charting - more time spent on paperwork/computerized charting means less time I can spend with my patients. :uhoh21:

2 - The girls/women who are on public assistance and come in every 1-2 years bearing another child onto our already overly burdened welfare system. :angryfire

3 - Sometimes, feeling like you need to clone yourself so that you can adequately care for all of the patients you are assigned. On our really busy days, we can sometimes have 2-3 active labor patients at once. :eek:

Jen

L&D RN

Guess you can tell I'm from the south?!

Well, I agree with the listed frustrations. I am also frustrated with the fact that in most of the 12 hospitals I've worked at in my career, it seems just fine to float L&D nurses anywhere, but NOBODY can ever float to L&D, even when we're drowning. What kind of administrative double-standard is that?

Also, frustrated with being hired (where I am now) for my long history of working in L&D and being certified, yet now being told I will have to "be comfortable with pediatric patients" although we have absolutely NO peds nursing orientation program.... GRRRRRRR!

Doctors, hours, and other things gripe me, but I love working with moms in labor. So I'm still "counting"... haha!

Thanks for asking,

KC in FL

:p

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My biggest frustration is inductions just for inductions sake, I am sick of seeing kids that are supposed to be 38 wks who are more likely 36 wks born via c/s after a failed induction b/c mom was TOBP, and I am sick to death of doctors who not only allow but encourage this. GRRRR.

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I get most frustrated with having poor managers--people who don't come from L&D, people who don't get it that you can't staff the unit based on what the board says at 5pm. People that don't understand how a busload of pregnant women can be dropped off at the hospital at any hour. "But you only have 1 patient on the board--why do you need three nurses? Of COURSE I cancelled your third nurse!". Drives me batty.

Oh, and just my two cents... I LOVE computer charting. Once I got over the extreme hatred in the beginning, that is. It's hard to get used to something new but, once I got used to it, man, has it been wonderful. It's cut a good hour out of my total time spent charting. I love it.

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We just went hospital-wide online charting this weekend and WHAT A NIGHTMARE. Even when you know what to do and what button to push, it takes longer to do things than it did before. I am sure portions of it will get easier as time goes on but otherwise............OMG! Last night was the pits and I have to do it again this evening and days tomorrow!! Like you, I would just like to concentrate on my labor patient. We have had computerized bedside charting (for labor) for a long time but this hospital wide stuff..............YUK (and I am computer literate). I feel for those who are not.

How nice would it be to have voice activated charting? I swear, so much more could be done for the pt instead of doing all of the charting and paperwork.

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How nice would it be to have voice activated charting? I swear, so much more could be done for the pt instead of doing all of the charting and paperwork.

That would be so awesome! I wish, too, that with all this fancy monitoring stuff they would make it possible for the monitor to figure out when there are 15 X 15 accels & stop the NST's when they're at the 20 minutes and reactive!

Good thoughts!

KC in FL :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Labor and delivery, NICU, PP.

SBE, I love your idea of voice-activated charting. The docs get to dictate their notes, why shouldn't we?!

I hope one day someone can invent:

Cordless EFMs that stick to the belly (telemetry but without the darn belts)

and indicator stickers placed on the belly that change colors as the cervix dilates (think of those thermo-stickers used intraop)....guess our jobs would be too easy if they existed...

:rolleyes:

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Specializes in LTC, Home Health, L&D, Nsy, PP.
I get most frustrated with having poor managers--people who don't come from L&D, people who don't get it that you can't staff the unit based on what the board says at 5pm. People that don't understand how a busload of pregnant women can be dropped off at the hospital at any hour. "But you only have 1 patient on the board--why do you need three nurses? Of COURSE I cancelled your third nurse!". Drives me batty.

Oh, and just my two cents... I LOVE computer charting. Once I got over the extreme hatred in the beginning, that is. It's hard to get used to something new but, once I got used to it, man, has it been wonderful. It's cut a good hour out of my total time spent charting. I love it.

OHHHHH NOOOOOOOO! We have the same managers!!!!!!!! LOLOLOL :rotfl:

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Specializes in LTC, Home Health, L&D, Nsy, PP.

I just thought of another one ... Pt's who come in who are laughing and can't even answer your questions because they are too involved in the television show they are watching, then rate their pain at 10 on a 0-10 scale! You hook them up to the monitor and they aren't contracting, their cervix is thick and closed, then later they bluntly tell you that they are "tired of being pregnant and ready to get this over"! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Sooooooo ... you explain that they are only 34 weeks - you explain everything that could happen if they delivered right now - you send them home and spend an hour wrapping up their triage chart - and they come back two days later to replay the entire scene!!!!!!! :crying2:

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My biggest frustration would have to be all of the paperwork and charting! You have to right the same thing on like 20 different forms!! I feel as though it takes away from patient care.

My second biggest frustration is the 15, 16, and 17 year olds who come in to have babbies and cry bloody murder when they have to get an IV. I want to say, "I bet you werent doing all that crying when you were doing what got you here!!!" :angryfire

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That would be so awesome! I wish, too, that with all this fancy monitoring stuff they would make it possible for the monitor to figure out when there are 15 X 15 accels & stop the NST's when they're at the 20 minutes and reactive!

Good thoughts!

KC in FL :rolleyes:

We actually have little clear plastic grids that you place over the strip that shows you the 15x15 accels. They were developed by the woman who worked on the original fetal monitoring studies with Dr. Hon. This lady is the one who does all of our fetal monitoring classes around here. She is wonderful.

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3 frustrations:

the rising of inductions, augmentations and therefore of c/s...

BTW i though some would be interested in exchanging some stats re this matter?

Inductions 56%, primary c/s rate 39% for 2004 in my hospital... sigh...

Ginny Doula RN SNM

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My main frustration is dealing with the crowds you deal with in L&D. If my hospital would take more of a responsible and professional view of what is involved with a laboring patient in the hospital setting, life would be easier for me. You can't treat hospital births like home births when your dealing with monitoring anesthesia and potential problems with a delivery when we use alot of intervention that can create problems that have to be dealt with. I can't bond with a crowd and the general public doesn't have any respect for the hospital environment they are in. I think I'm getting too old for this anymore.

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