Practicum decision .... Help???

[NurseB_, BSN, RN]

Ok, I hate when I have big decisions to make and I have so many options so I need my fellow nurses help. In my program we can only do Med-Surg, ICU and ER. The problem is I don't want to work in any of these departments for the long term once I graduate. I know I need to get a good Med-Surg background, but I want to ultimately work in Labor and Delivery. My goal is to become a Nurse Midwife so basically my heart is set on L&D. I know I might have to get a position in Med-Surg to get some experience and that's fine to me. I just don't know what department would give me the best experience for being a L&D nurse given my choices. We are big on the nursing skills but in my practicum experience I want to get more experience in being a "nurse" like making calls and determining the next action once I see lab results, etc. I just need some advice ANY ADVICE!! Please let me know what you think!! Thanks!

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

do med surg, it will look good no matter what job you apply for.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Med surg as it gives you a well rounded experience or the ED as it gives you the skills to deal with the unexpected and the emergent....:0

[ICU, RN, BSN, B.S.]

ICU will get you a job anywhere. But midwife has nothing to do with ICU...actually none of those really. Not sure. Why does your school not let you do maternity as one of your rotations? I'm so confused!

[NurseB_, BSN, RN]

I'm not completely sure why we can't do maternity. We can only do Adult Acute care for some reason. It was recently changed to just these 3 departments. ICU is my number 3 on my list but I know I would be able to see a lot there but it has nothing to do with my long term goals. I'm trying to find something that will be beneficial to me and somewhere where I would get to see and do alot of patient care.

[ICU, RN, BSN, B.S.]

Yea that is weird...my BSN had us do med/surg, then maternity, pediatrics, psych, community, and then advanced med/surg where I got a preceptorship. I would say medical then. Are you in an associates program?? JW

[caliotter3]

Med-surg is the easy choice, but either of the others are good too. Any one of these three choices will look good when you move on to the work setting. In an interview, you will be mentioning the skills and work habits you learned, and these will be learned no matter which area you work in.

[NurseB_, BSN, RN]

No I'm in a BSN program. I think it has something to do with getting enough practice for the NCLEX since those other areas don't have many questions on the NCLEX.

[ICU, RN, BSN, B.S.]

Well NCLEX is random and everyones is different and your teachers have no clue of knowing what you will get for questions as far as content and how many questions you will get.

[caliotter3]

Practicum areas have everything to do with the school's ability to set up contracts with local facilities and nothing to do with the NCLEX.

[CrazziiRN913, ADN, BSN]

I would of said ED because you may have pregos come in all

the time with emergencies, at least up here in NY I see it a lot, but what do I know I'm just a lowly NS student...good luck with your decision!!

[rn/writer, RN]

I would go for med/surg. ED and ICU will allow you to see all kinds of urgent situations and teach you to expect the unexpected. But you will use what you learn in med/surg every day in L&D.

ED and ICU are fast-paced and aggressive areas, and I'm sure you would learn a lot working in either of them. But med/surg is where you will hone the skill of spotting subtle changes over time, nuances that precede and predict serious problems. You will pull together the pathophys and the labs and the meds and how all of these things manifest in the patient hour by hour. You will come to appreciate the concept of trending.

Yes, there are patients who "crash" in L&D. But they are comparatively rare. Many more will need your ability to read the fine print, i.e., look for little clues to suggest what is happening to them and their babies.

Med/surg will also provide you with a good foundation to deal with things like diabetic moms, heart conditions, blood irregularities, sickle cell s/s, and many other diseases and conditions that pregnant women come in with.

ED and ICU might be more fun in some ways, but I think med/surg will give you a better foundation for an eventual practice in L&D and midwifery.