L&D CNA....what do they do?

[afox]

Hi everyone,

I'm in my 2nd semester of nursing school and have my CNA. I really (think I) would like to work L&D when I graduate, and saw that the hospital I want to work at, has a L&D CNA position open. I only have CNA experience doing in home care, but thought I'd apply anyways. The only hospital experience I have is during my clinicals on a med/surg floor and the CNA skills we usually do are baths,changing linens, feeding, vitals, etc, but I was wondering how different it is for L&D. Any info from nurses or CNA'S or nursing students who have already had OB would be GREAT.

thanks :)

[BEDPAN76]

same things with more clean ups and more orders from RNs. My advice is just wait till your'e a nurse:smokin:

[GoddessLilithLPN]

I worked L&D and Postpartum as a CNA 5 years ago and I looooved it! In L&D, you don't have to do vitals on the moms because they are already hooked up to a monitor. You basically do comfort care and pass trays. After the baby is born, you help the mom bathe and massage her uterus to control bleeding. You also change her sheets and escort her to the bathroom when she is ready, provided her bleeding is under control, her b/p is okay and she is not dizzy. After that, you get to give the new born his/her first bath, which includes washing their hair underneath the sink faucet. MOST newborns absolutely love this, and I think it's because the wark water from the faucet reminds them of the comforts of being in-utero. On Post-partum, it's basically the same thing as regular floor, except that you are caring for both the mom and newborn. You will show the mom how to properly breatfeed or feed the baby the bottle and also show her how to burp and swaddle the baby if she is a first-time mom, or if it's been many years since heer last child. Also, you will perform a heelstick on the newborn to test for variuos genetic conditions and also a hearing test. Hope this helps! I'm now an LPN and the hospitals here in Florida don't even hire LPNs for postpartum...I have been miserable ever since because my heart is with the Maternity Floor:heartbeat:crying2:

[CEG]

If you want to work L & D as a nurse (RN) I would definitely apply for this job because that's a great way to get your foot in the door-- L & D can be very competitive. Typically though L&D does not take LPNs and few PP units take LPNs so consider going for your RN if you are not already.

You will be doing your sort of basic CNA stuff you talked about. But you may also be assisting at deliveries, helping provide baby care, etc.

[rn4babies63]

At our hospital, the CNA's are also trained as scrub techs. They scrub for all of our

c-sections.

[NPinWCH]

I say go for it. You can learn a lot being a tech on L&D and since so many places want experience now it's a great way to get your foot in the door and may give you a better chance of getting a job vs. someone with absolutely no L&D experience.

Our techs helped transfer patients from observation to admission, did vitals, weights, answered call lights, assisted moms up to bathroom and helped set up and clean up for deliveries. All our techs went through NRP so they could assist at delivery as well. They would dry, stimulate and use bulb syringe suction at delivery. They also did the weight, length and head circumference. They did newborn admission bath and footprints as well.

Since we were a small unit and LDRP+nursery, the techs also were in charge of routine infant care such as feeding, changing, charting vitals and I&O. If you really want to be an L&D RN, I think this is a great opportunity. You also can get the feel for whether or not you really like it.