Infertility Nursing

judyblueeyes · Jan 10, 2006

I worked in a fertility clinic for a number of years (hospital based, now). It is a challenging field full of growth. You could use a little psych knowledge as fertility is a highly emotionally charged field. I was attracted by the cutting edge science and ethical issues and loved the hands on practice and, of course, the good outcomes.

When I was working, there were no certifications and little training opportunitites. There were times I suspected I was possibly outside my scope of practice, but got copious documentation that I was trained on the proceedures by the Doc. I usually attended ASRM meetings to keep abreast of changes and meet other nurses, but there were few nurse there as the meetings were Dr oriented.

It can be a difficult area of practice when things don't go well.

I loved the field, but events conspired to take me away from it. Perhaps I can return one day!

lovingpecola · Jan 11, 2006

I think you're having a hard time finding information because I don't think you need any special certification. (Or even if there is such a thing) I have seen job openings for fertility clinics, and they say "RN required" or "RN w/BSN preferred."

I am also interested in the field of infertility, but I plan on being a CNM who also sees infertile, lower income "clients" who are at the beginning stages of infertility (the stages before one should be transferred to an RE, etc).

Good Luck!

coolatta19 · Jan 12, 2006

I worked in a fertility clinic for a number of years (hospital based, now). It is a challenging field full of growth. You could use a little psych knowledge as fertility is a highly emotionally charged field. I was attracted by the cutting edge science and ethical issues and loved the hands on practice and, of course, the good outcomes.
When I was working, there were no certifications and little training opportunitites. There were times I suspected I was possibly outside my scope of practice, but got copious documentation that I was trained on the proceedures by the Doc. I usually attended ASRM meetings to keep abreast of changes and meet other nurses, but there were few nurse there as the meetings were Dr oriented.
It can be a difficult area of practice when things don't go well.
I loved the field, but events conspired to take me away from it. Perhaps I can return one day!

I currently work in a infertility clinic which sees thousands of pts a year. The Psych knowledge is a must. Pts are very emotional, demanding, frustrated, (and understandibly so), It can take months even years before a pt gets pregnant. Some even take out a second mortgage on their homes or take high interest/shared risk loans. I'm currently a Nursing student and though interested at first, I would not go into this profession due to the emotional stress. I'd prefer to be more hands on. You will become more of a counsler than anything else. The pt experiencing a loss is one of the most draining and sad events in our practice. Luckily, we can a few great Nurses who know how to handle this situation. One of the most amazing depts in infertility is the Gestational Carrier/Ovum Donor progam. So many amazing life stories. It's mind blowing what we can achieve for infertile couples. Truly amazing. Go for it if you like psych.

lovingpecola · Jan 12, 2006

While it is certainly very, very helpful to have some knowledge of psychology, do not let a lack of this knowledge deter you because some of the most supportive people to me personally (I have been one of these patients) were not necessarily people who had psych backgrounds -Compassion, empathy, patience, and straightforwardness were the qualities I admired most in those who were helping me! I think coolatta is right in pointing out that it is an emotionally charged atmosphere! But also, there are patients who do *not* expect you to be their counselors... any more than a woman who has recently had a stillborn baby...or had a baby die in ICU...I think a certain amount of "counseling" is done in these circumstances, too. There is certain amount of repeated disappointments and desperateness (which cooletta is pointing out too, I believe) which takes a certain kind of nurse. Glad you're interested!

lovingpecola

Lifeisabeach · Mar 12, 2006

I too work in a fertility clinic for the last 6 years and have been waiting to see some nurses in here have the same job as i do. I love every minute of it, the down side is depressing and my heart goes out to my patients that fail ivf and even iui's. Just walking into the clinic is emotional enough for them, let alone expensive. Not everyone is made of money. I do agree a little psych does help but also your heart and ears are very helpful to the patients. i just recently had a former patient call me on my cell just to say hi and that she was in the process of adoption through china and wanted to tell me that she just needed to hit rock bottom before she realized she couldnt have children of her own, her husband started drinking she in depression, almost divorce but she somehow pulled out of it, she worded it very differently but are much stronger in their marriage, she admitted to me her husband was frustrated at our practice because they didnt get pregnant, knowing we have no control over that, but he got on the phone and apologized. I thought that was a nice gesture but not needed. there are very rewarding days. we too see a lot of pt's on a daily basis, and the look on their faces when they leave is so "overwhelming" i give a follow up call just to see if they need anything, have anymore questions after hearing what they need to do after their follow up or initial consult.

I would love to get a forum going for infertility nurses here, i now certification is no longer avail. they got rid of that in 2000 or 2001. i do read NPG thru ASRM and they are trying to get that back, i know i would like to be certified.

love to hear from all the infertility nurses.

Julie:nurse:

Lurksalot, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2006

It would be nice to have an Infertility Nursing forum! Great idea!

I am also going into Infertility medicine, planning on getting my NP and finding a job where I could see clients at the RE's office. This field became my passion after going through all of it on a personal level. At my RE's office, they have 2 NP's, they run the IVF program and also the embryo donation and egg donations programs, they are fantastic nurses and have given me a lot of great advice. I think there are different opportunities for nursing in this field, as an RN you could work in the office and assist the docs, prep clients and assist with the IVF retrieval procedures, I think some on the RNs also work in the labs with the embryologist. With your NP, you could see clients and do their monitoring ultrasounds, consel them, etc.

I think very highly of the RNs I have run into in this field, they were all such caring and compassionate people who really cared about what they were doing. If it was not for my RN's, my husband and I never would have had our daughter, and we certinally would not be still trying for #2 nearly 4.5 years later.

If we had an Infertility/Reproductive Medicine/Endocrinology forum here, I would definitely post a lot more.

Lurksalot, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2006

I had to add a little more, too, since some of my classmates have asked me why I do not want to go into general OB/GYN or L&D. My reasoning is that although related, there are really different fields compared to Infertility Medicine. In fact, I had contemplated working in L&D as I work on my NP, but after doing clinicals I have realised it is just not for me--to me, people getting pregnant from having SEX is just such a foreign concept--let alone people having babies they do not want.

As another poster said, in Infertility medicine you are treating clients who may never have that baby they so desperately want, who may have had many, many losses, and who have an entirely different viewpoint of having babies than those who have not had problems.

My point basically is, while related to OB/GYN in many ways, IF medicine could use its own distinct section.

Anyway, good luck to you, I hope you find your niche.

msdeeva · Jul 3, 2006

I'm just entering the field and I've seen that there's not a lot of support. The professional group over at ASRM seems barren (no pun intended), and I've been looking for textbooks on the subject, and the only book specifically written for nurses in the field was published in 1991. I was going to enter the field last year, but wanted to wait. At that time, NPG-ASRM was saying they were trying to get the certification reinstated. Well it's been a year, and I don't see anything on their website, nor in their newsletter, stating they're still trying. That is more than a little disheartening. Anyway, I decided that it's time for people to get together and talk about the field, since there is expressed interest. So, I created a yahoo group to see how many of us there actually are. Here's the link. Feel free to sign up and chat. I'll be updating frequently. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/rei_nurses/.

If you want to join, just use your yahoo account id, or email us at [email protected].

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 4, 2006

Moderator note:

The idea of (our having) an infertility nursing forum is a very intriguing one and this is not the first time I have seen people ask about this. I will forward this thread to management/admin for their perusal and consideration.

Meanwhile, do feel free to use this forum to discuss your issues, concerns and stories here. I welcome each of you to allnurses.com.

joyrochelle · Aug 18, 2007

Hello all-- Just an FYI for you: Regarding cert in REI nursing.

http://www.npg-asrm.org/current-npg-newsletter.pdf