How did your Mom/Baby clinicals go?

[cherokeesummer]

Ours are going on now, well we are in the "risk" semester and mother/baby is what we do the most of. We had clinicals back in July and August where we did 12 point maternal assessments, newborn assessments, and general care of the mom and baby: bed changes, trays, vitals, etc. We had it divided up between two students, one had baby and one had mom.

Now we are in the next clinical round and we are not only caring for the couplet by ourselves, we are also charting and stuff. It is hard to get used to! :):)

A few questions:

1 - How do you remember all the points in the 12 point assessment? I always seem to miss cap refill and one time missed breasts DUH! I had to go back and do it. It's just frustrating to miss these things, I keep thinking I should know this by now, though this is only our 3rd time doing it. And the postpartum unit was FULL today, 30 babies and moms. There were no more beds, anyone else had to be on overflow or in the L&D wing! So the nursery was CHAOS!!!!

Sometimes I feel like all thumbs! I mean, yes I got checked off on my skills but it is like DUH - when will this stuff ever be second nature to me? I work full time too so this stuff competes with my regular life and job :):):):)

Of course my Hubby knows that my time is nursing school consumed right now but he is ok with that!!!!

Any tips?

[cherokeesummer]

Nobody wants to share their clinical routine? :):)

[Mandylpn]

Nobody wants to share their clinical routine? :):)

Cherokeesummer: We start our OB rotation next week. I will check back and let you know! :uhoh21:

[klone, MSN, RN]

I'm so jealous! We don't do OB until 3rd semester (I'm in 1st). That's where I want to be, ultimately. Plus, I've gotten to know the OB lecture instructor and I positively ADORE her. She's asked me to do a presentation on breastfeeding when I get to 3rd semester.

Anyway, have fun! I wish I was there already!

[maire, ASN, RN]

I absolutely LOVED my women's health clinical rotation!!!!! It was the only one where I truly felt comfortable and enjoyed every moment of the experience.

For our postpartum assessment, we used something called the BUBBLE HEE - breasts, uterus (fundus), bowel (BM yet?), bladder (did she pee?), lochia (what's it look like? Does it smell? lol), episiotomy (if there was one, how's it look?), Homan's (+/-), edema (is there any?), emotions (how's mom DOING?).

LOL It was over a year ago and I still remember it.

I hope you enjoy your rotation as much as I did mine! :)

[Altra, BSN, RN]

CherokeeSummer, I'm also finishing up my OB rotation - this week and one more week to go. For assessment, you might try making yourself a pocket-sized cheat sheet with all the areas you're going to assess. That way you don't miss anything. As an alternative, if your hospital charts post-partum moms on a pathway or uses a charting-by-exception form, you could just take a blank one of those and use it as a reference.

I think this is your first semester? Assessment does get easier - anything can become more like second-nature once you've done it a hundred times.

Good luck to you. :)

[Altra, BSN, RN]

For our postpartum assessment, we used something called the BUBBLE HEE - breasts, uterus (fundus), bowel (BM yet?), bladder (did she pee?), lochia (what's it look like? Does it smell? lol), episiotomy (if there was one, how's it look?), Homan's (+/-), edema (is there any?), emotions (how's mom DOING?).

Interesting, Maire ... we learned the BUBBLE-E assessment. Same stuff, except eliminating the Homan's sign - several of our instructors have cautioned that although a positive Homan's is one indicator of a possible DVT, it's not a reliable one. It's often absent even in the presence of a DVT. I actually had a pt. with this scenario last semester.

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

I found my experience to be rushed and disorganized. We were rushed because of two hurricanes that came rolling through here which also contributed to the disorganization. Personally, I find postpartum to be a bit boring. On the upside, you're not dealing with sick people. I didn't get any experience at all in NICU or the NB nursery, although I have some experience working in the nursery at work. And I have not had the experience of an L&D observation as of yet. I was my daughter's labor coach however when my grand daughter came into the world a few years back. Tomorrow is my last chance.

We were also beset with paperwork. A several page newborn assessment and a 10 page L&D assessment. We also had a community experience which we had to attend and write a paper on. I attended a childbirth class. We also had a peds day a the local health department where we observed but could not touch. Liability issues. It would have been nice if we gave vaccinations to the little ones.

I had been so looking forward to this rotation.

[Gampopa]

I am having a really bad experience w/ mom & baby, and obs. Just bored to tears. When i've been allowed to do an assessment it's palpate fundus, look for bleeding, ask if the pt. is in pain then go to the nurse's station and listen to the nurses complain about how busy they are. Do this for 8 hours! The new moms and babies get assessed at the shift change and then not much else for the rest of the shift. Only a couple more weeks and I'm done

[shape0fmyheart]

I find postpartum to be pretty boring too. I was excited when I got sent over to L&D yesterday and had a WONDERFUL nurse who taught me everything she knew it seemed! I can't wait for my day in the nursery however, I LOVE babies. But in postpartum all we do is vitals and fundal checks. IF they are on meds we might give those and anything else that comes up, which isn't much. Though I did do my first ever cath a few weeks ago! (even though I missed on the first try :chuckle )