Interview Advice, decision making

[applesRN]

HI to all, and thanks for your help.

I have done med-surg for several years, some cardiac exp also. I have always wanted to be a nurse in the OB area or babies.

I have put an application in for the only two open positions in my hospital system: a 3 12's nights on Mother-Baby Unit ( couplet care) and Baylor Days on Labor and Delivery. I have never applied for a Baylor position... I know I need to find out whether I 'd be paid for 32 or 36 hours, if benefits are the same as full time, if the weekend shift differential is included, how much PTO I'd get, if I could work elsewhere during the week, any others? The area I desire the most ( I think, at least) is the NICU, but there are no openings at all. I don't remember the last time I saw an opening there, if ever.

I am a day shift person, I assume, as I didn't do nights well several years ago when I tried. That being said, I believe if the job is worth it, I will make a way. I remember doing jumping jacks in the hallway to stay awake between 2-5 am...

Since this is a new area, and I have been out of nursing school about 10 years, I have purchased Maternal-Child Nursing Made Incredibly Easy and the pocket laminated guide. I am also reviewing other books- most of them being more textbook like.. Wong, Perry, et all, has the best full color pictures, but I digress....

I have been reading posts on this board, and finding that L+D can be very stressful. However, so can MB (pp) in terms of pt ratio, esp. with couplet care- and some babies are in the nursery, so you pick up other mothers..

What types of questions should I ask? What questions are they likely to ask of me? What observations should I look for when I tour the unit? I would dislike giving up every weekend for work, but it might be a good thing- I'd have the whole week free, and no internal clock disturbances. I have fibromyalgia. The higher rate for malpractice also concerns me for L+D. I am a little afraid of complications, poor staffing, etc. I have read the guidelines of AWHONN, but some have reported that even with those guidelines staffing patterns can be bad, depending on the complexity. When I interviewed for a part time position ( and didn't get it) 3 years ago on the MBU, the manager said a lot of nurses go into L+D, and then leave soon after they see it's not what they thought it would be. Should I become a member of AWHONN before my interview? How do I see if the manager will be good? I assume weekends on L+D will be less busy (no scheduled inductions or C-sections, right? or do they do that?)

I know I am asking a lot of questions. I appreciate your patience with me. I have been 'burnt out' in nursing before, and so I am careful to make my decisions now. I am a person who needs to analyze things, research things, etc.

[jhhrn68]

I got into maternity nursing after I burned out in another area. I spent 28 years in long term care so I went from one end of the spectrum to the other. L&D can be very stressful, not unlike the ER. I think I kind of thrive on the stress. On our unit, we also do post-partum and newborn nursery. We have not ever developed the couplet thing, although it has been tried. MB couplet care works best if you don't have a nursery. I think our biggest problem is that we have too many nurses who have worked way too many years on the unit and are used to having all the babies in the nursery, especially at night.

Night shift can be hard. When I was younger, I couldn't tolerate the nights. Now, at my advanced age, I find it much easier. Maybe I don't need as much sleep as I used to. If you don't mind the stress, day shift on the L&D might be the thing for you. You will learn something new every day. It will probably be feast or famine. As for staffing, our unit is very well staffed. Not having enough nurses is rarely ever a problem. You need to know how many active laboring patients you might be expected to care for. You can't be helping 2 mothers push at the same time. We have also had nurses leave L&D in a hurry when they find out what it involves. Things can happen in a hurry there. You can go from no patients to several in a matter of minutes. If you think you are the type that will like this kind of activity, then I would say go for the L&D on the day shift.