Where do your Miscarrages admit into

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SmilingBluEyes

20,964 Posts

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Pregnant women regardless of the gestation go to the OB floor. Whether they are still pregnant, threatening to abort or have aborted/miscarried. I cannot imagine putting a patient experiencing a miscarriage on the med/surg floor. That baby/fetus was their child no matter the gestation and they deserve to be on the mother baby unit unless of course they themselves would decide that's not where they want to be. With that said I believe the majority of aborts recover and go home from same day surgery. I've had two miscarriages both of which I recovered from and went home.

Ummmmm, You guys are all forgetting something. The psychological aspect of pregnancy loss. We are not just surgical cases (those of us who have undergone a loss).

I have been on both med-surg and OB units after my losses. (I have had 5 losses total). At least on OB they realized I had HAD a loss and was more than a surgical case. On med-surg no one thought to see how I was doing beyond vital signs. I am sorry, but no one can care for people who have had a pregnancy loss better than OB nurses. It's what we DO. Just cause a pregnancy is not over 20 weeks, does NOT mean it was not a heartbreaking loss for the couple going through it all. Sometimes, just saying you are 'sorry" is all we need, sometimes we need more......

Med-surg nurses don't often recognize or have time to deal with the psych aspect of our losses. It's just a fact of life on m/s floors.

Oh, and we do admit ectopics, miscarriages, etc, on OUR floor (ob) where I work. I believe this is as it should be.

JVanRN

406 Posts

I think they get admitted to our GYN Med/surg floor. The only patients on this floor ate those who have had some sort of GYN surgery (C section, Hystorectomy...) The nurses there have experience in these things. I think it's important that they be on a floor where nurses are experience in dealing with these things (Like SMB said previously). We also have a separate unit for vag deliveries as well. Should the mom miscarry in the hospital, I think she will continue to stay in that room...but ultimately it is up to the mother.

Q.

2,259 Posts

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Ummmmm, You guys are all forgetting something. The psychological aspect of pregnancy loss. We are not just surgical cases (those of us who have undergone a loss).

I have been on both med-surg and OB units after my losses. (I have had 5 losses total). At least on OB they realized I had HAD a loss and was more than a surgical case. On med-surg no one thought to see how I was doing beyond vital signs. I am sorry, but no one can care for people who have had a pregnancy loss better than OB nurses. It's what we DO. Just cause a pregnancy is not over 20 weeks, does NOT mean it was not a heartbreaking loss for the couple going through it all. Sometimes, just saying you are 'sorry" is all we need, sometimes we need more......

Med-surg nurses don't often recognize or have time to deal with the psych aspect of our losses. It's just a fact of life on m/s floors.

Oh, and we do admit ectopics, miscarriages, etc, on OUR floor (ob) where I work. I believe this is as it should be.

All very true, Deb. However, where I used to work, we had a GYN unit that was meant for GYN related med/surg cases - and plastics, which is where we sent any

A regular med/surg floor I could totally see your point. But one devoted to GYN patients should totally be able to handle cases like this.

NoCrumping

304 Posts

Pregnant women regardless of the gestation go to the OB floor. Whether they are still pregnant, threatening to abort or have aborted/miscarried. I cannot imagine putting a patient experiencing a miscarriage on the med/surg floor. That baby/fetus was their child no matter the gestation and they deserve to be on the mother baby unit unless of course they themselves would decide that's not where they want to be. With that said I believe the majority of aborts recover and go home from same day surgery. I've had two miscarriages both of which I recovered from and went home. No overnight stay.

I work in a hospital strictly for women.l&d, oncology/med/surg mother /baby , NICU.

All the miscarriages and things like that go to the oncology/med surg floor

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

All of the pts. who have miscarriages go to the Maternity floor, but they are given the option of going to another floor, if they think it's too painful to see babies and new mothers. There's a set of rooms at one end of the floor that they are usually admitted to. There's a sitting room right off from the group, and sometimes, two or three of the pts. will gather and talk, and it seems to help a little when they can talk to someone who has JUST gone through something similar (it's never the same for everyone) that they've gone through.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
I am sorry, but no one can care for people who have had a pregnancy loss better than OB nurses.

A lot of our med-surg nurses used to be OB nurses.

SmilingBluEyes

20,964 Posts

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Marie I hear ya, but most of them don't want to deal with us, personal experience tells me so, anyhow. The care I got on med-surg as a post pregnancy loss patient was not the same. they were NOT trained to care for me as anything but a surgical case. it was not fair to them, or to me.I think these patients should have the choice NOT to go to L/D, also. Some would rather not. It's very individual.

SmilingBluEyes

20,964 Posts

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
All very true, Deb. However, where I used to work, we had a GYN unit that was meant for GYN related med/surg cases - and plastics, which is where we sent any

A regular med/surg floor I could totally see your point. But one devoted to GYN patients should totally be able to handle cases like this.

I agree Suzy, GYN nurses SHOULD be able to deal with this stuff. However, most med-surg floors do not have dedicated GYN nurses. Where I was (same big hospital), the med-surg floor was just that, med-surg, and VERY busy with all manner of things, including very combative and sick patients. It was not where I belonged at all, but it was where they put me. There was no just GYN floor to put me on, and they did not put me on OB.(I presume cause their beds were full).

alli

30 Posts

I am currently working on a gyne/oncology unit. We would get this type of patient for sure. Today I had a patient who had a miscarriage at 11 weeks, quite an emotional situation to deal with especially since I am new working there for 3 weeks previously working in gen surg. I found it a bit difficult to deal with the emotional aspect I can only imagine how it must be if the patient is admitted to a busy med surg unit.

renerian, BSN, RN

5,693 Posts

Specializes in MS Home Health.

Hm. Well I have had two miscarriages and a pregnancy with placenta previa for which I was hospitalized for bleeding three times/bedrest. It broke my heart hearing the babies crying when I lost mine.

renerian

z's playa

2,056 Posts

Hm. Well I have had two miscarriages and a pregnancy with placenta previa for which I was hospitalized for bleeding three times/bedrest. It broke my heart hearing the babies crying when I lost mine.

renerian

I understand. :o

Specializes in ED.
(our hospital offers a burial place for all miscarrages / any fetal remains and does a service every six months - Very Cool I think)

That is so cool. I have had two miscarrages. The first one they left me alone in the room (in the ER) with the remains in a specimin dish for like 15 minutes. I can't even describe the massive depression and flashbacks I had for months after that.

The second time I was admitted to the PP ward since I had to have a D&C where I was wheeled by the nursery on the way to my room. Its like, thanks guys for the reminder there! :crying2:

Both times I was only 8 1/2 weeks along.

I wish more hospitals were sensitive to a grieving mothers needs like your hospital is. I could have really used a burial to finalize things for me. Health care providers really need to be more sensitive (at least at the two hospitals I went to)

I can understand wanting those patients to be on a PP ward and I can also understand having them on the med/surg ward. There is probably no real good solution to that right now.

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