Job hunting

cysrnob · Aug 20, 2006

You will be so much better off if you get a med/surg job first. I tried working OB with no hospital experience when I was a pretty new nurse. It was a disaster. I had no IV skills, I didn't know how to hook up a PCA, run antibiotics and such. Yes I had orientation but these things don't come often in OB like they do in med/surg. Labor and delivery, you need to use your critical thinking skills. It is like jumping into ICU and running the code yourself with no experience. I worked a year in med/surg before I tried again to work in OB. It helped me to add on to the skills I already had. It also helps you with confidence. Suppose you had a patient fresh from delivery and all the other nurses are too busy with other patients and it is just you. She starts to hemmorhage. Suppose this uncommon situation did not come up in orientation. What would you do? In med/surg you have more nurses to help you and answer questions because they are not focused strictly on their active labor patient getting an epidural or PIH patient on Mag. Med/surg nurses have a lot of work to do but they on the average do not spend hours at a patients bedside where they wouldn't be available. Also the more you do something, the better you get at it. OB units would be more than likely to hire you if you at least had 6 months med/surg. Med/surg units don't mind hiring new grads. I hope you are not offended but I am just speaking from experience.