Help-I got an interview!

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Since before I started school, I wanted to be a L&D nurse. During school it became obvious that alot of us wanted to do L&D. I kind of saw my dream float away and figured I would have to serve my time in med-surg before persuing my dream.

By the grace of God - I have an interview tomorrow with the director of womens services at a local hospital here. I am so nervous and shaky. I can barely type. I did not believe this would even be a possiblity for me. I so want a job in L&D.

I have been on 4 other interviews and did very well during those interviews, resulting in 3 job offers. But those were all for med surg positions. But this is the job I actually truly with all my heart want.

Ok now to the point - How can I really shine? What intelligent questions can I ask? What should I wear? What would a director of womens services really focus on? Any help, suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

By the way, I will graduate school in December, so this will be a GN position. Also, I am an "older" student, 34.

Thanks.

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The fact that you are an "older nurse" may be a plus. From participating on many interview panels, maturity is definitely seen as a plus. Dress professional, be natural and allow your enthusiam to shine forth. Good luck!

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

WEeeeeeeeeeeeellll considering the average age of the graduating RN is 34, I can't see how you can say you are "an older nurse". I graduated with a couple of grandma's in their 50s and both got jobs right out of school, no problem. Your age is prime; you are young yet and being 34 is not even a factor. Just concentrate on doing your best at the interview and be calm. Dress for the part, do your homework and be aware of why it is you want to do OB nursing; they are SURE to ask. I wish you well!

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Specializes in Home Health Care,LTC.

Best of luck keep us posted

Angelia

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Specializes in RN Education, OB, ED, Administration.

Be prepared to ask intelligent questions:

How many OB's practice?

CNM's?

How long will your orientation last?

When will NRP training be available? Fetal Heart monitoring, etc.

Let your excitement shine through and smile a lot, but appropriate! Focus on the OB experience you received in school. If you can get a letter of recommendation from your OB clinical/classroom instructor, that would be gravy! Try to somehow fit in your belief in the importance of team work and customer service. A lot of facilities prefer new grads because they can teach them "their" way of doing things. I wish you the best of luck! You will love working in OB! It is such a gift to be a part of another family's miracle. Let us know how things go.

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How exciting! I am a old (40) L&D rn and you dont have to worry age is just a number funny I dont know what 40 is supposed to feel like.

Smile. Let your enthusiasm light up the room.Ask if you can shadow the unit. Day time is best as you can get a feel for the place and maybe even see a delivery!!! Ask pertinent questions ie is your orientation competency based or calendar based. Are there Low and High risk core classes? Will you be able to ask for more time if you need it. What kind of fetal monitoring class will you have before you begin orientation. How many deliveries a month? If it isnt a university or teaching hospital is there a doc available in house. How many inductions, C/sections, do they have fetal surgeries, what hours are you working days, nights, rotating? Do you have to take call, how many hours, and how often. Do you self schedule, hint plan a vacation about a month after orientation even if you dont have one planned this quarantees you some time off as sometime you have to wait and you may be exhausted as you will be learning so much and even good things can be a bit stressful. Will you have a resource rn after you are done orientating to help you as a buddy is always good to have!!

After they offer you the job, and you are satisfied with the pay and the benefits, take time to make sure this is the right place for you.

I am so excited for you! L&D nursing is so rewarding! You will enjoy it I am sure. Welcome and join AWHONN once you start making some money it is a great organization that has great info for L&D nurses.

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Thank you all so very much for your replies.

I had the interview today.......I thought it went very well in the beginning, then people started knocking on the directors door and the phone started ringing and she became distracted - totally understandable.

She gave me the whole song and dance about how she felt new nurses should start out in med surg, but that that did not mean a new nurse couldn't be trained in OB. I told her I respected her opinion and understood her reasoning, but that in my heart I knew that L&D was where I was meant to be.

To conclude she said decisions would probably not be made until the end of next week and she was unsure how many applicants she would get. By the way - I had to go to standard GN interview before I was invited for an interview for L&D. I guess this was kind of their screening process.

Somehow my confidence kicked in and I feel I did a good job of selling myself. I also asked some good questions (I thought so at least).

Again thank you all for your replies. I'll let you know how it turns out.

:)

Oh yeah - one other thing I took as a positive, she gave me her card which has her direct office line and cell phone number to call if I had any other questions. It might have only been out of professional curtsy(?spelling?). But I took it as a plus.

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I like your name by the way :D

I wish I had read your post before my interview.....I would have had even more great questions to ask.

Thank you.

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2be,

You can thank my dog for my name! It sounds like you made an impression. It always helps to send a thankyou card after an interview. You can then reinforce your enthusiasm for the position you are meant to have. I am tossing up some positive thoughts for you! Let us know what happens.

Flashyrn

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