L&D--what are your patients like?

[auson16]

Hello!

I'm a new nurse, I took a job in a level 1 trauma center out of school and have been there for 9 months.

Due to job changes for my husband, we will be moving an hour away, and I've been offered a position in labor and delivery at another hospital. One of the main reasons that I'm considering getting out of the ER is because of the interactions that frequently happen between patients and nurses there. You don't have time to really form a bond with patients that you do enjoy taking care of, and you are being yelled at on a regular basis by other patients for reasons often beyond the nurse's control.

So, labor and delivery nurses, how are your relationships and interactions with most of your patients and families? Obviously when dealing with patients in any area, you will have issues, unsatisfied patients/families, and people who are just rude and disrespectful. However, do you generally have positive interactions and experiences with your patients, is it a mixed bag, or do you frequently have patients who are angry or rude?

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

It's a mixed bag, but most patients are grateful for what you're doing. The fact that they're (most of the time) there for a happy reason helps the general mood in the room.

We still get our fair share of crazy, weird, sad, and unexpected....when OB/L&D is good it is the best kind of good, and when it is bad it is the worst kind of bad.

[Chapsi]

We get to immediately assist someone in a very personal and intimate experience and most women are so grateful for the care they receive. I often receive beautiful thank you cards from previous patients. Sometimes we are with them for a full 12 hours, and get to know them quite well. I often find my patient interactions very rewarding.

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

It's a bit of a mixed bag, but coming from a med/surg, the atmosphere is a million times more positive. Every once in a while you will deal with a crazy/mean patient and/or family, but most are nice. Most of them are happy to be there, they are actually in the hospital for a good thing (usually)! They are having a baby, so they have an overall better attitude than someone who is sick/injured and wasn't planning on being in the hospital. It is nice having one patient for 12 hours. I really get to know some of my patients and bond with them during a really intimate time in their life. I get a lot of thank you cards and food gifts, which is really nice. (I rarely got anything like that in med/surg).

You will get some drama every once in a while. Baby daddy issues, pushy family members, entitled teenagers, "Birthplan Princesses" who should have had a homebirth if they hate hospital intervention so much, and of course, bad outcomes. When it's bad, it's pretty bad, but I find there is way more good and it's the best nursing gig I have ever had.

[Jen-Marie4MSN-RNC-OB]

My patients are almost always fantastic. The ones who are challenging go into my memory as funny, weird, crazy or sad anecdotes, and as an emergency room nurse, you probably already have lots of those. Here's another thought - in labor, pain often means progress, so even though we don't "encourage" pain, it often means we are getting closer to the big event. I can't even count the number of times I have been overjoyed by good outcomes in my job. It's amazing. Brand new families, mothers and grandmothers cooing, new daddies bursting into happy tears -- okay, okay, I will stop gushing. Wait, wait, one more - I will never forget a birth when the new dad was so happy he burst into song, and kept right on singing for hours! It was terrific and it was a little annoying, trying to get my charting done with this happening, but hey, the man was so happy!

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

My patients are almost always fantastic. The ones who are challenging go into my memory as funny, weird, crazy or sad anecdotes, and as an emergency room nurse, you probably already have lots of those. Here's another thought - in labor, pain often means progress, so even though we don't "encourage" pain, it often means we are getting closer to the big event. I can't even count the number of times I have been overjoyed by good outcomes in my job. It's amazing. Brand new families, mothers and grandmothers cooing, new daddies bursting into happy tears -- okay, okay, I will stop gushing. Wait, wait, one more - I will never forget a birth when the new dad was so happy he burst into song, and kept right on singing for hours! It was terrific and it was a little annoying, trying to get my charting done with this happening, but hey, the man was so happy!

Oh man, yes. The daddies get me every time! I kind of expect mothers to be overwhelmed, because they've done a lot of hard work carrying and birthing this baby....but when the daddies cry or sing to their babies, or as a lot of my Middle Eastern patients do, the daddy whispers the Muslim call to prayer in Arabic. I find those moments so moving, my eyes well up more often than not.