Interested In Ob-Gyn

ijuanabhappy, ASN, RN · Jun 29, 2010

Try to apply for a tech job, or nurse extern position on any of the labor/delivery floors of hospitals in your area. This will give you insight and experience in this area and a better chance of being hired into L&D after graduation. In clinicals, we only had one day of L&D and didn't get to see or do anything that day that would have helped me make a decision either way. If you are working on the unit as a tech, you will get more exposure to help you make that decision. Good luck!

suezan59 · Jul 14, 2010

During school, we only had one day to observe in L&D - I was one of the lucky ones who got to watch a lady partsl AND a c-section birth. Our postpartum rotation was only a few days on the floor and I thought it was really boring (I'm a postpartum nurse now and I love it ).

The previous advice to get a tech job or internship is great - the only way you're going to know if it's for you is to be immersed in it, and it's hard to get that in school.

Please note that this is coming from a new grad, but I would recommend keeping in mind that a lot of OB/GYN nursing (at least the postpartum side of it) is patient teaching and monitoring. Most moms and babies are healthy and don't require any medical interventions beyond pain meds, and some nurses find this extremely boring (and from a student's point-of-view, it can be VERY boring). I spend a lot of time getting drink refills and snacks, and charting how many times the baby nursed, had a wet diaper, etc... Every once in a while something really exciting happens, but for the most part, it won't have the excitement that you'll get in other clinical experiences.

It really seems to be one of those love-it or hate-it kind of fields. Most of the nurses I work with have been in it for years (more like decades!) and would retire before they would work anywhere else in the hospital.