May be a weird question and may not be possible but...

[RNmilwife]

I graduated nursing school in May 2009, went to work at a SNF b/c at the time none of the nearby hospitals wanted to hire new grads. So August 2010 I started working at a hospital on an medical oncology floor. I like it fine but it's not what I want to do. I have always wanted to work in OB. I continue to look for those positions and even working at a hospital I'm being told "you need OB experience". Well gee, when I graduated you just wanted hospital experience. A nurse I contacted at my hospital said it's just b/c it's so expensive to train in that field. I understand. Really I do. So I wonder if I take the NRP, FHM through AWHONN and offer to orient for free. Have you ever heard of a hospital allowing this. Any adivise or thoughts?

[klone, MSN, RN]

I don't think labor laws would allow them to let you orient for free. By law they HAVE to pay you.

[klone, MSN, RN]

As far as the other stuff, certifications are no substitute for experience. All of their staff, experienced or not, has to have NRP done every two years, so having that certification already isn't really going to save them any money. So while it would certainly show a commitment to OB if you had those certifications, and it may give you an advantage over another RN who doesn't have OB experience if they're looking to hire someone they know they'll have to train, it's not going to give you an advantage over an RN who has previous OB experience. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.

[casi, ASN, RN]

Getting the certificates will at least give you a foot up over the applicants that don't have OB experience. At some point the world will run out of experienced OB nurses.

Otherwise I know that some nurses have luck getting positions on med/surg floors that take OB overflow. That way they are trained in post-partum, they just don't do it a lot.

[RNmilwife]

Of course I don't want to hear that :thankya:. But I appreciate the honesty. It just frustrates me that you have to have experience to get the job but how do you get the experience? I guess I will keep trying and go ahead and get those certs. It can only help, right?!

Thank you both for your reply

[MassED, BSN, RN]

that's so frustrating, trying to get into the job you really want, but they only want experienced people.

Let me tell you, the only way I got into an ER was by taking ACLS, finding out that the manager of the ER was in there, so I wow'd her in the course. I chatted her up and found out the name of the ER director. I emailed him, then called him, selling myself as the perfect ER nurse (that I would be, given the opportunity). I would imagine I broke them down to give me the chance. That director later told me he was glad to have gambled on me. Why don't you find out who the OB director is?? Call them and tell them that you're an RN, what your plan in your nursing career is, and ask them how would be the best approach to get to your dream job in their OB department. Set up an appointment. What can you lose by going this route? It shows heart and determination to go after what you want, and that, my friend, is impressive. Go for it. Break down that door and ask for what you want. Each and every person who is on that floor was given a way in at some point. So can you.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Of course I don't want to hear that :thankya:. But I appreciate the honesty. It just frustrates me that you have to have experience to get the job but how do you get the experience? I guess I will keep trying and go ahead and get those certs. It can only help, right?!

Thank you both for your reply

I know it's frustrating. I think it's a sign of the economic times that most places only want RNs with experience in OB. They don't have the budget to train right now. It won't always be that way, though. Keep the faith; if you want it badly enough, you'll get it eventually!

[Noimanurse]

Ask to float to OB when or if your census is low. I'm not sure how your floor is set up, but a few hours or a shift or 2 here and there may just be a way to get a bit of experience. I'm sure there are times when the OB is overwhelmed and maybe they just need an extra staff member for whatever, let them know you would like to be called upon when they have a need for extra staff or when your census is low on your floor. This may not be alot of experience, but over the course of a year or so, you might get your foot in the door just enough to get the next open position.

[klone, MSN, RN]

We regularly get M/S nurses who float to OB (postpartum). I think that's a great idea.

[GM2RN]

We regularly get M/S nurses who float to OB (postpartum). I think that's a great idea.

This surprises me. OB is typically a "closed" unit in my experience, which means that no one without previous OB experience would be allowed to float there. Obviously some hospital must allow it, but I still think it's probably not the norm.

I am also reminded of my own experience with finally getting into the ED. I took a PRN float position with my current hospital and worked there for approx. 18 months. During that time the nursing supervisors and other staff got a chance to become familiar with me and my work, so when an opening came up in the ED I had people who were willing to go to bat for me. You could try something similar.

Good luck!

[FrogKissingNurse]

i don't know much at all about working ob, but have you considered becoming a midwife/dula and help expecting parents deliver their babies at home? from some research i've done in the past water birthing in a clinic or home setting seems to be the new trend. also consider trying an ob doctors office to get some experience.

[milzer2012]

Get to know the OB Floor, float, talk to the other staff if you can. even ancillary - oftentimes there are leads to vacancies before they come up.

How about per-diem at another facility - maybe a smaller one, or a less-critical one ? for some experience

Guess the bottom line is to be creative, brainstore all of the possible ways to

get to know those you need to.