Making the switch to OB/women's health nursing...

[IloveSnoopy]

Hi all,

Some of you may know me...I've been around allnurses for awhile. Anywho..I have been a med/surg nurse for 6 years now and I am really looking for somewhat of a change. I find myself being depressed about my job much of the time. I know it's time to move on and I'm just not sure what to do. There is currently a part time opening in our OB/Womens Health department and I am seriously thinking about enquiring about it. I never thought I would actually want to do OB nursing...but lately..it's sounding kind of appealing to me. I feel I am a fairly experienced nurse now and I would really like to specialize in something.....I must admit....I'm very rusty on anything ob related, I don't have children, don't even hold infants very often..lol...but it's something I'd like to try. Our facility has hired two new grads recently and they are both ob nurses...I figure if they can learn...I can too..right? I'd love to learn something new and consider myself specialized. On med/surg, we are treated like we have no critical thinking skills at all...it drives me crazy. We have a few bad nurses there and so everyone is grouped as being stupid and unable to do anything. The ob nurses always tell me that "the doctors are so different with us"...and i"ve seen it personally.....they act totally different with them than they do with us.

Our facility is also expanding.....building a new women's health wing..and hiring another ob/gyn. I consider myself an expert on endometriosis...(because I have it)..and I would love to start up a support group for fellow sufferers. I just see the whole thing as exciting and challenging...and I am soooo ready for a change. The job is only part time..so I would have to continue working on med/surg part time as well. That would be ok with me...then if I decided I really love ob...I could go full time when a job opened up...which may be happening with them expanding. I am sick of all the suffering that goes on..(on med/surg)...we have sooo many elderly folks that just want to die...and we won't let them...we make them better and prolong their lives a few months or whatever. I think overall...the vibe on ob is soooo much better....I mean..sure you have the m/c's and stillborns,etc....but I'm saying overall...it's a much happier place. I think I need that in my life right now....I have been battling anxiety and depression lately and i think a lot of it is job related.

So...do you think I should go for it??? I am considering just asking to shadow for awhile first....just to get a feel for some of it. Like I said..I"ve been out of school so long..I don't remember a lot about ob. I know I would have a lot of work and learning to do ...but I love learning..so that's ok with me. Plus...me working both med/surg and ob...would make me very versatile as far as floating..etc. Our ob nurses often float to med/surg when their census is low or non-exsistant. I've had a lot of people asking me about going to ccu or house supervision...but I just don't want to do that for some reason. Ok..I better go..sorry this got so long...all you experienced ob nurses...tell me what you think...k? Oh...BTW...we are a rural hospital and the ob nurses are responsible for labor and delivery and postpartum and nursery care. Ok...thanks again...

Luv,

Snoop';

[IloveSnoopy]

Oh...I just wanted to add....I do believe that med/surg is a specialty in it's own right and it didn't really come out right in my original post. I'm just refering to the way the med/surg nurses are treated at our facility. I think med/surg is a wonderful specialty of it's own....I just wanted to clear that up before I got flamed...eeek. Thanks :)

[tammki5g]

Dear IloveSnoopy

First of all I agree with you Med/Surge is a specialty all its own and I give anyone credit who can do it. OB is a wonderful area to work it is mostly happy like you said. unfortunatly when it is sad it is really really sad. but the majority of the time great.

I think it is great hiring new grads for specialties. but I also love hiring nurses with med/surge experience or any other nursing experience. it gives you a leg up on a new grad because you already know how to prioritize and give meds and talk to patients. you already have a wealth of knowledge about different disease processes and medications that can come in very handy on OB.

I know that I am biased but OB is a great place to be. give it a shot. let us know how you like it!

[fergus51]

I think as long as you go into it with realistic expectations, you should do fine. If you can survive on medsurg for 6 years, you obviously have some good critical thinking skills!

I do see some nurses coming looking for a happy place and then getting very dissapointed when it turns out to have a lot more sadness and frustration than they thought it would, but I did work in high risk units so your may be different. I would suggest applying if you're interested. I just hope they are willing to train someone with no experience for a part time position. That can be tricky. It takes a good year or two to feel comfortable in L&D IMO, and that is only prolonged if you have to work part time.

[NurseNora, BSN, RN]

Asking to shadow another nurse may give you a better idea of what to expect. I agree that with 6 years of experience, you'll be an asset because you have a certain level of confidence in the abilities you have that will help you learn new skills. Post partum is all about teaching. In general your patients are healthy and pretty much self care. A lot of people think of PP as "easy" because of that. But teaching is the really important thing there. How to take care of a newborn, how to nurse a baby, how to take care of a perineal laceration, what to do when the milk comes in and your patients breasts are rock hard. You don't have to have experienced these things to help someone learn to deal with them.

I stay as far from the nursery as I can. Just not a baby person. I much prefer fetuses to babies. My hospital expects OB nurses to be able to do L&D, Post Partum, and Nursery. If someone is really strong in L&D or Nursery, it's OK to only work 2 areas. Everyone has to do post partum. I'm strong enough in L&D that I don't have to do nursery, although I do do couplet care when I'm doing PP. I just don't do babies on IV's or O2.

Even if you find that OB isn't for you, by trying it, you've added to your skills and will be a better float. Some people who are getting stressed at work find that taking a permant float position helps for a while. The day to day politics on each unit are not as upsetting to those that don't have to deal with them on a daily basis. Give OB a shot. You may like it.

[SmilingBluEyes]

I think as long as you go into it with realistic expectations, you should do fine. If you can survive on medsurg for 6 years, you obviously have some good critical thinking skills!

I do see some nurses coming looking for a happy place and then getting very dissapointed when it turns out to have a lot more sadness and frustration than they thought it would, but I did work in high risk units so your may be different. I would suggest applying if you're interested. I just hope they are willing to train someone with no experience for a part time position. That can be tricky. It takes a good year or two to feel comfortable in L&D IMO, and that is only prolonged if you have to work part time.

Good post. I also agree w/shadowing someone to see what it's like with your own eyes. GOOD LUCK with your decision.

[IloveSnoopy]

Thanks everyone for your insightful responses...I really appreciate it!!!! I have talked to the nurse manager in OB and I am in the process of setting up some days/nights to shadow. I am really interested in it...but really want to make sure it's for me before I dive in. Thanks so much...

hugs

snoop