Help! I was looking for someone to answer some ?'s about your job.

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 30, 2005

[Name?

Debbie

How long have you been in nursing?

7 years, almost 8!!! Time flies eh?

What position do you hold?

I am an LDRP (labor/delivery/postpartum) as well as GYN surgical RN

What is the greatest reward of your job?

Seeing new families and lives born is definately a natural high and the perk that keeps me going in OB and not burning out. I am a birth junkie, I admit it.

What's a normal day like?

"normal"? that, in nursing, hardly fits. :roll Typically, I take care of labor patients, following them through the antepartum-birth-postpartum continuum. This means, on any given day, I can have a patient who delivers a baby, care for her after the baby is born, and also take care of patients in antepartum status (preterm labor patients mostly, as well as ruling out labor and other procedures such as amniocentesis assistance). I also can be in the nursery taking care of babies who are needing a higher level of care beyond just healthy status....such as IV's, Sugar protocols, feeding issues, antiobiotic therapy and ruling out sepsis. On that SAME day, I MAY be caring also for a woman experiencing the loss of a pregnancy, from the first trimester, all the way through the tragic case of a loss at term. When I am not busy doing all that, you MAY find me caring for post-op hysterectomy/bladder repair patients. I care for women from early teens to elderly. The life continuum you can say. :) NO day is "typical" but they are rarely "boring' either.

What's the most difficult part of your job?

It has to be two things:

1. The loss of a mom (rare), pregnancy or baby. It's the absolute WORST part of my job, and a sad reality. Fortunately, it's not a thing that happens everyday. It's just tragic to see a mom or baby lost!

2. The sense I can't care for my patients like I would like to, due to time constraints on me from occasional understaffing, too much paperwork, non-nursing care demands of my time, etc. I hate those days when I go home feeling I did not do all I could for my patients.

3. Wait! There IS THIRD THING: caring for victims of domestic violence/abuse, particularly pregnant ones. That HAS to rank up there w/the most difficult parts of my job.'

Thank you for any of you who have answered these for me. YOU are WELCOME!