is labor and delivery and OB really a specialty?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

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i worked a different floor the other night and found it interesting that the nurses I worked with thought L&D/OB was not a specialty area at all. they said all we do is hold babies and play nurse. Now I beg to differ but i think it is a specialty area . How about you? have you ever had other nurses tell you something similar to that?

UGH! I agree with you Mark. You must have great self control. You should have asked them a question only a L&D/OB nurse would know the answer to and see what they thought then. If L&D/OB wasn't a specialty, we wouldn't have obstetricians or midwives, now would we? ;)

Mark,

You should've asked them if that meant they'd float to L&D, then, when it gets nuts. Of course, it's a specialty.

Gail

Well, my first reaction was to say that those nurses should volunteer to float to our units and see exactly what we do. But then I realized they'd just be in our way, and is that really worth being right? When we already know we are!

I get that all the time... "must be so nice to rock and play with the babies all day!" My stock answer is to finish for them, "...and give them shots, and do CPR when they quit breathing....." Usually shuts them up.

Heather

Specializes in NICU.

If NICU and L&D are so darn simple, can someone please explain to me why we can't find nurses to staff the units properly? Oh, wait...maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe all those people have decided to go in for something more challenging, like the stuff that real nurses do. ;>) My response is similar to Heather's, but a bit more graphic: Yes, I work with babies all day. Babies who come in grey as stone and cold as ice whose parents expect us to 'fix' them. Babies who have skin that is as red and transparent as cherry Jell-O and whose eyes are fused together. Babies whose veins are as thin as floss and fragile as dust who will literally die if I don't get an IV catheter the size of a toothpick into them quickly enough, and whose skin is so delicate that a mere touch can leave them bruised horribly and removing a piece of tape could literally rip a sheet of it entirely off and leave them bleeding and ready for a life-threatening infection. I work with babies ALL night. When you're sleeping, I am dripping with sweat and trying not to cry while trying to save a baby who, if curled up, could fit comfortably in the palm of my hand.

Well, that's what I think in my head, anyway. I do manage to muster a more polite response, but I sometimes have the urge to deck someone in the jaw. Is that normal, do you think? ;>) I'm sure you L&D nurses could come up with a response equally graphic!

maybe if they don't think it's a "real" specialty area, they won't mind having a float nurse care for them when they or their family members have their babies. hmm?

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

Well the NCC considered it a speciality enough to establish certification in several areas of OB/newborn nursing.......so why shouldn't our fellow nurses? Frankly I could not care less what they think.... IGNORE THOSE BOOBS; they know not what they speak of.

Specializes in OB.

Tell them "Great! Then you won't mind coming over and taking a few pts. the next time it's all hitting the fan here in L&D!"

that was my basic response, i told them if it is so easy they were welcome anytime to come help out. i asked them if they would like to sign up i was sure i could get them pulled to help. funny thing no one decided to sign up:).

i pretty much thought it was funny. I wish all i got to do was hold and play with babies.

Specializes in OB, Post Partum, Home Health.

We once had a nurse that came from a "specialty" area because she said that it was "too stressful" and she needed an easy relaxed job. First day on the job we did a crash section. She quit on the spot saying that ob was much more stressful than icu or er. I loved it, especially because she had been warned but wouldn't listen to us. It was GREAT!!!!!

Frankly, I think every area of nursing should be considered a specialty, med-surg and OB included. OB is considered a specialty here because nurses who work it must have extra formal education and training.

You should've just shown them a FH strip and asked them what it meant.

Even worked nights in ICU?

I have and with all due respect nights in ICU are a snooz fest. All the patients tubed and diprivaned into Lala land. Dont ge me wrong I've seen it get hairy in ICU and the nurses that work there really need to know their area but for the most part I found it boring.

While L&D nurses do get to hold babies and "play nurse" they also have to know their stuff. I can't I've ever had a boring night in L&D, their is always soemthing going on and new challanges.

Where did you float anyway? I sure as heck hope it was'ent med/surge. Whats the professtional credential for med /surg?

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