from home care nursing to L& D, so scared to switch!

[MS_SUNNYSIDE]

hello everyone!

i used to worked in a long term care facility for children for 3 years.(my first work experience as a nurse). And then when i gave birth to my daughter,i gave up my work and stopped for few months..

While raising my child, i applied as a home care nurse, which i really love so much! since i can work only every weekends and it's not fast pace.

But now, i'm thinking of shifting gears..i want to work in L& D unit, but so scared to move forward! maybe because i'm not used to a fast pace environment...

what should i do to prepare myself if in case i'll pursue shifting to L&D?

thank you for the inputs!

[grateful2010, LPN, LVN]

I know how you feel. At the moment I work for a homecare agency (I start work next week) This is my first RN job. I would rather work in a hospital setting, but I'm having a difficult time finding work there. I am very much afraid of working in a hospital setting, mainly because I focus on the "what if's", the bad case scenerios more than the lovely learning experience and skills I will attain working at a great facility. I don't think you have to prepare much of anything. What I realize is that if you focus on being confident in yourself and your abilities everything else will fall into place. Most of what you need to know will be taught at the job. Focus now on your strengths and the reasons you want to be a LD nurse, then, believe that you WILL be the best nurse to your capabilities. Best of luck!

[IrishItalianRN]

My suggestion would be to ask questions in your interview. I think sometimes people are afraid to ask the interviewer questions but they love it! Plus it's your license you have to protect.

-Make sure that you will be given an adequate orientation period.

-Ask about training, where i work if you don't have L/D experience they send you to an academy to learn specifically about L/D... You have to learn fetal monitoring, ACLS etc etc if they don't talk about these things in the interview ask about it...

I work in postpartum and haven't made the switch yet... that was my goal in the beginning but I really enjoy spending time with my patients, especially the new teen moms, I like the teaching. If I work more than one day in a row as I usually do, I get them back too so it's nice continuity of care... one day I'll take the leap!

Good luck to you! I think OB is so rewarding and I love going to work everyday!