Job Shadowing

[Marissa22]

I am 17 and in high school. I need to complete a job shadow for my high school. I've always been interested in L&D so I talked to the nurse manager of my community hospital about it. She said they do not do shadows in L&D because the doctors don't like it. I was wondering if this is true for most hospitals or if I should contact other hospitals around me. Thanks! Marissa

[Altalorraine]

I am 17 and in high school. I need to complete a job shadow for my high school. I've always been interested in L&D so I talked to the nurse manager of my community hospital about it. She said they do not do shadows in L&D because the doctors don't like it. I was wondering if this is true for most hospitals or if I should contact other hospitals around me. Thanks! Marissa

No, it is not true of most hospitals. If there is a teaching/university hospital near you, try contacting them.

Altalorraine

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

Also, contact the Education dept. for that hospital to see if you can shadow in a different area. I understand you want to see babies being born, but you will still learn in virtually EVERY dept. Remember, there are laws about patient privacy and the patient will have to agree to your presence.

[llg, PhD, RN]

We used to allow shadowing, but do not anymore. The confidentiality issues are a real problem. Also, there is a danger in that the "shadows" may not have had all the immunizations required, etc. and could inadvertantly spread germs/viruses in our population of sick children. There are also other legal issues related to having an untrained person in a clinical area who might inadvertantly cause harm to a patient and/or become injured in an accident, catch a communicable disease, etc.

llg

[lovingpecola]

I have done some shadowing this year and I reccomend that you check with local clinics. I have shadowed CNMs at these clinics and at the major teaching hospitals in my city. The private hospitals were much more difficult to get into, but they too allowed me to shadow with a recommendation from the CNMs I shadowed at the other places. You may not necessarily get to see a birth, but you will see most everything else (paps, post-partum check-ups, well baby care appointments, etc.) At the clinic I also got to do some hands on things because the mothers were really excited to see someone from their own community headed to graduate school! But this part may be a cultural experience that doesn't necessarily apply to you, so don't count on that!!

Be vigilent and respectful in your search, Good Luck!

Loving pecola