maternity/pediatric rotation

commonsense · Apr 8, 2012

I start my first day in maternity tomorrow. I will have 2 days of maternity for 12 hours each day and 2 days at Peds for 12 hours each day. I'm feeling very nervous because this will be my first all day clinical, other times I had it for 6 hours each day. I'm feeling anxious as I don't know what to expect since I've only been to med-surg floors.
Can anyone please give me advice on what I should prepare ahead and know. What should I expect? I know we will each get a mother and assess, but I'm so nervous about assessing the mothers and babies. How would a 12 day rotation at the maternity floor be like? what should i bring to eat? or drink?

The first thing you should do is relax, take a deep breath. 12 hour shifts are long, but if you keep yourself busy they go by in no time. What you should know depends on what floor you will be on. For example, if you're on postpartum be aware of possible postpartum complications to be looking for, if you're in the nursery know baby vital signs and key information. You should get a lunch during the shift, other than that I wouldn't think you'd need to bring any extra food. Just relax and try to enjoy the experience, best of luck.

butterfly134 · Apr 8, 2012

In Ireland, its done a bit differently I think but I spent two days on the labour ward during my maternity rotation. Although I absolutly loved maternity and I have considered specialising in midwifry, I was quite shocked when I saw the birth. I saw an instrumental and three appesiotomies. I had no idea how much blood was involved and after watching the instrumental birth I did feel quite weak and afterwards one of the midwives gave me a little pep talk and a cup of sweet milky tea. I was also very nervous because I'd never held a baby before and didn't know anything about feeding them or changing them. So, maybe prepare yourself for that! ( sorry I must note that Im doing my BSN straight out of high school so I don't mean to sound patronising if you have more life experience!! ) Don't be afraid to ask for support from staff if you need it. Most people feel nervous on their first day! Have a quick look of your theory with regards to maternity. I found it to be a really happy and exciting clinical rotation and found that attributes such as kindness and being caring were very important. Have a great day, seeing a baby being born although can make you feel quite queasy, it feels like you are involved in a miracle!!!! :) :) :)

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Apr 9, 2012

we assessed newborns with the pedi's, took babies out to their parents after they'd been assessed in the nursery, changed a LOT of meconium diapers, bottle fed quite a few babies, rinse, lather, repeat. Also watched circumcisions, folded burp cloths, baby blankets and basically tried to help the nurses any way we could...

I started peds 2 weeks ago - have done breathing treatments, I did a discharge AND admission on the same day, changed IV bags, and learned how to program a syringe pump...

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 9, 2012

surely you have clinical objectives that will guide you to some extent. Remember that with pedi you may have to calculate EVERY medication based on weight and babies may get weighed more than once per day. Expect parents to be in your way and drill you with questions. Learn to smile and say, "let me ask your nurse/my instructor/God" anybody who can help! Bring a snack of nuts or some other protein source. I think your instructor or preceptor will have a plan. It is up to you to execute it

pghnurse527 · Apr 14, 2012

12h shifts are a big jump from 6h, just be prepared to be tired. I would e-mail your clinical instructor and ask what is allowed--but we could bring snacks and drinks with us.

Every hospital and state are different, but we were not allowed to give medications in pediatrics. I loved the rotation, but it was somewhat boring because of that. We did a lot of assessments, feeding and changing babies, and discussion. For OB we spent a few weeks in antepartum, L/D, and postpartum.

I feel that both peds and OB were a lot more relaxed and laid back than med surg, because there was less that we could do as students. This means there was a LOT of down time and the day drags on. Good luck!