Looking to be an L&D nurse

[cshante23]

I'll be starting college soon and I'm interested in becoming an L&D nurse. I was wondering what kind of courses I should take or if there's anything I can do at a hospital to get me started? Can I become one with just my associated until I get further along in college or how does it all work? All help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

in the us, all nursing education for nclex exam for rn licensure includes ob. you can't specialize as an undergraduate. you should know that a huge proportion of new students and pre-students are dead certain sure what they want to do, and a lot of them want "mother/baby" or "pediatrics," imho because they only know about that from having been a kid and a babysitter and they think those sound easy.

of course, the vast majority end up doing something else entirely. good thing, too, because there are a lot more older people than younger ones needing health care.

go do college visits and ask particularly about applying to their nursing programs, preferably bsn level. ask about the course work and the clinical hours. you can refer to the entire forum on the differences between associate degree and bachelor's degree, but it boils down to having many more opportunities open to you with a bachelor's, and it doesn't take a lot less time to get only an associate's. although an associate's degree in, oh, english or history takes two years, the nursing associate's degree takes 3 and a half or more because of the prerequisites that have to be completed before the nursing program. if you're not married, not a parent, not too encumbered, take the great advantage that bestows upon you and get your four-year college degree. you will not regret it.

if you are still in high school, take all the math and science courses you can lay your hands on. you will seriously need them. nursing (even l&d) is a high-science profession. no kidding.