Is it best to start in OB or get some med/surg experience first?

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Hi all,

i'm a nursing student graduating in a year, and my ultimate goal is to get my master's and be a midwife:redbeathe. I've applied for some externships to try and get some experience (if i get accepted i get to pick my area of focus, so i'm debating between ob & m/s). My question is, would it be best to work in med/surg for a couple of years first rather than drive myself crazy trying to get a position in ob (which i hear is next to impossible for a new grad)? :confused:. Thanks for any and all input!!

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I would start in OB if you can. I did and no regrets. BUT if there are no positions open to you in OB, getting into med-surg is a great start. The experience you gain will be valuable either way. But remember, med-surg is a very specialized area all its own, with challenges and situations that are very different than those in OB. GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I am someone who went into nursing school knowing that OB was the ONLY area in which I wanted to work. I got an externship in OB in my second year, and was hired on as a new grad into the OB unit.

Five years later, I can definitely see the benefit to getting a broad foundation in basic nursing before specializing. Things like interpreting non-OB labs, post-surgical care, working with drains, working with patients who have comorbidities like diabetes, heart disease, etc. They happen so rarely in OB that when they do happen, you can really tell who are the nurses who have only done OB (the ones who panic and have NO IDEA how to take care of this person) and who are the nurses who started out somewhere else.

Last year I had a very humbling experience - I was precepting a 4th semester student (a 12-shift preceptorship) who had externed that year in M/S. One night the M/S floor was full, so we took 2 post-gyn surgery patients. These were both women in their 60s. Both of them had drains, as well as several PO meds that nobody in OB ever has. My STUDENT knew how to care for these women better than any of the nurses on the floor, including myself. They assigned both women to us, simply because my student was the most knowledgeable person there at the time (she was a rock star anyway). She was quite familiar with the drains, and showed the other nurses how to empty them. It was then that I realized how very lacking my knowledge is in areas other than OB.

If I could go back in time, would I do it any differently? Probably not. :D Do I recommend that students and new nurses get at least 6-12 months of a basic nursing foundation before specializing. Yeah, usually.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

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Specializes in L&D,Wound Care, SNC.

Ditto pretty much everything that Klone said. I am currently taking a year or so break due to the birth of our second child. We are moving back to the U.S. in November. I am really stressed about the break in employment and finding a job when we get back to the U.S.

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I am someone who went into nursing school knowing that OB was the ONLY area in which I wanted to work. I got an externship in OB in my second year, and was hired on as a new grad into the OB unit.

Five years later, I can definitely see the benefit to getting a broad foundation in basic nursing before specializing. Things like interpreting non-OB labs, post-surgical care, working with drains, working with patients who have comorbidities like diabetes, heart disease, etc. They happen so rarely in OB that when they do happen, you can really tell who are the nurses who have only done OB (the ones who panic and have NO IDEA how to take care of this person) and who are the nurses who started out somewhere else.

Last year I had a very humbling experience - I was precepting a 4th semester student (a 12-shift preceptorship) who had externed that year in M/S. One night the M/S floor was full, so we took 2 post-gyn surgery patients. These were both women in their 60s. Both of them had drains, as well as several PO meds that nobody in OB ever has. My STUDENT knew how to care for these women better than any of the nurses on the floor, including myself. They assigned both women to us, simply because my student was the most knowledgeable person there at the time (she was a rock star anyway). She was quite familiar with the drains, and showed the other nurses how to empty them. It was then that I realized how very lacking my knowledge is in areas other than OB.

That's precisely what i'm worried about Klone... i know that i want to specialize in ob but i'm starting to feel like it would be better to get broad base of experience first.

About the externship, if chosen, should i still do it in ob for the experience...or do it in med/surg since that might help with getting a job as a new grad?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
About the externship, if chosen, should i still do it in ob for the experience...or do it in med/surg since that might help with getting a job as a new grad?

That's a tough one. I think I would lean towards an OB externship. That way, even if you do a year in med-surg after graduation, at least you have some foundation in OB that would make you a more desireable candidate if a job does open up, compared to someone who has no OB experience at all.

I recently posted an entry on my Facebook page, talking about how lucky I feel that I entered the nursing field during the true shortage when new grads could write their own tickets. Right now, I'm realizing from posting here that the job market is SCARY for new grads and I don't envy you one bit!

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Thanks for the advice!

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My dream job is in OB and that is why I went to school (graduated 2 yrs ago). That being said, I have not been able to find an OB position, and have been working as a float nurse (Med/Surg, Tele, orthopedics, rehab, Peds). I have learned A TON and feel very comfortable taking care of a diverse patient population.

If I could have gotten into OB right out of school would I have taken it? Absolutely.

Looking back I'm grateful for all the real life nursing experience that I have gained, and will fall back on for the rest of my career.

I have an interview for an OB position tomorrow. If I don't get it I will be sad.....but I know I'll never give up.

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Good luck on your interview nursecher!!! be yourself and think position.

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

do the externship if its OB that you know in your heart is what you want. I am in a 400 hour externship right now in L&D/Mom Baby and I have been applying for OB postions. I figure that 400 hours in the specialty, even as a new grad, would put me on par with a previous med/surg nurse trying to get her foot in the door on a maternity unit. We both have favorable, albeit different qualities that would be useful to the unit. And I have been getting a bit of med/surg experience in as well as this unit also takes ob/gyn surgicals as well.

Where I am currently at they will be doing additional hiring this summer (they just opened a new floor) and hope to be hired then. If not, I've already been applying to other hospitals. If after a few hard months of trying and not being hired, I will expand my job search elsewhere (med/surg, LTC) but for now, my focus is entirely on OB/Maternity.

My advice? Join AWHONN. Take NRP (I am taking it next week) and a beginners EFM course. I am even taking a week long Certified Lactation Counseling course (http://www.healthychildren.cc/CLC10S.pdf) in May. I am really serious about this field and by the sounds of it, so are you, so do everything you can to show everyone just how dedicated you are.

Good luck!!!

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Thanks for all the info melmarie23!!! i think i'm definitely gonna start taking those courses, i want to make myself as favorable as possible. And good luck with your applications!

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