High Risk Ob Patients

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Specializes in OBSTERTICS-POSTPARTUM,L/D AND HIGH-RISK.

I WORK ON A HIGH RISK OB UNIT WITH A BED CAPACITY OF 30 PATIENTS . WE AVERAGE ABOUT 20 TO 25 A DAY. I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM OTHER NURSES WHO WORK ON A HIGH RISK AREA SEPARATE FROM THEIR L&D. WHAT KIND OF ISSUES DO YOU HAVE AND HOW DID YOU SOLVE THEM.

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

HI and welcome to allnurses.com and specifically, our forum. I don't work in a high risk OB unit so I can't really help, but hopefully, someone will be along to do so, soon.

Meanwhile, you may want to be a bit more specific in what you are looking for-----do you have specific questions/issues you wish to discuss?

Just trying to help. Good luck and again, welcome to our forum. Looking forward to hearing more from you, soon!

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Where I am we have HR antepartums that are turned over to us from L/D once they are deemed stable. This includes everyone from previas, partial abruptions, bleeding for Obs, PPROM, PTL, (you get the idea) to moms whose OB stuff looks fine but they have some other medical problem needing attention and pregnancy makes tx more difficult. Any pg under 20 weeks comes directly to our floor from ER, after 20 goes through L/D. We deliver

Some difficulties I run into:

1) When I'm calling about a breaking antepartum, sometimes I have trouble getting the residents to take me seriously. I should say "we" as a unit have that problem. I was on the phone all night one night for 8 hours while a 27-weeker was contracting (toco wasn't picking it up but I could palpate). One of the residents checked her & because her cervix hadn't changed told her "sorry, hon. this is part of being pregnant.":angryfire I am enough of a PIA to them that 8hrs later when the attending comes along I convince him that she is contracting. He checks her & lo and behold, she has gone from 2 to 4. :trout: That resident is very lucky I didn't deliver that 27-weeker in the bed. I would have written that up so fast....

2) Where I am the floor is not exclusively AP. We have APs, gynies, & mother/baby couplets. It is hard sometimes when you have a breaking AP to give attention to your other pts, depending on how long it takes you get that pt transferred to L/D.

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Specializes in OBSTERTICS-POSTPARTUM,L/D AND HIGH-RISK.

I truly understand how you feel about the residents not taking you seriously. Also when it's busy (and it always seems to be busy) the residents tend to put us at the bottom of the list after triage and L&D.I don't think I would like doing under 20 wks deliveries. We don't like doing any deliveries.I worked L&D for 16 yrs and deliveries belong there. Does your unit have a triage? What happens when all the triage beds are full? We get the overflows.I'm a charge nurse on our unit and some days I will calls that there are 2 to 3 patients needing to be seen now. We have patients with a variety of dxs. From twins, triplets and even quads to preterm labor , premature srom and hyperemesis. I like our unit and enjoy the teaching of the patients ( when we have time) and the staff. I like that we are able to help the patients with maintaining their pregnancies. I remember years ago babies at 28, 30 ,32 weeks didn't do well or even live. So what I would like to know is how do other RN's enjoy taking care of HighRisk OB patients?:confused: :confused:

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Specializes in LDRP.

my unit is a high risk antepartum and l&d unit together, though they are marginally separated. (not like labor in this room, antepartum next door, etc) same nurses staff both

i like it this way. if an antepartum breaks, you can just roll her over to a labor room or down the hall to the OR. the docs are around. we dont have a problem with them taking us seriously.

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