Mother Baby Unit - Tips, Advice, Teaching Resources?

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Specializes in Med Surg, Perinatal, Endoscopy, IVF Lab.

I just started working on M/B and I want to ask experienced M/B nurses for their advice, tips, and where I can find online resources for my teaching of these new moms.

I am an experienced med/surg nurse who just moved into perinatal float about six months ago. I've been stuck on our "drug baby unit" since then but am starting to train in the other areas. This schedule, it's on Mother/Baby. I used to think this was a floor where one went to "retire"... that it couldn't be that hard... but GEEZ! It's hopping over there. I work HARD on that floor =)

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Are you taking care of mother or baby or both (couplets we call them)? It is very hard to work on these floors. I work in a LDRP which can be kinda crazy at times. Our whole unit is combined. We have to learn 1 specialty and postpartum care. That means labor and delivery nurse, nursery nurse, special care nursery. It's a lot to learn. We have a nurse educator who teaches us and supports us. She is the best. I don't know what state you are in but most have a specialty nursing chapter in them. You might want to look that up to see your standards of care for your type of patients.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Perinatal, Endoscopy, IVF Lab.

We do couplets (although sometimes its just mom b/c baby is on NICU). Anyway, lots of charting and two different kinds of patients (one adult, one newborn). A lot to be aware of. I'm used to adults on med surg and I do pediatrics too so that's no sweat, but the whole newborn care is very new to me. We have a seperate L/D, Nicu, and Mother/Baby unit. We have one charge nurse for the floor and one for the newborn nursery. There is a nurse or set of nurses that do admissions in NB nursery, so I don't have to sweat that. Just get good at assessing my babies.

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Specializes in Peds.

That sounds exactly like the unit I work on! I used to work telemetry before, so I know it's a much different transition, but a good one! I basically memorized the dr. orders, and did my Continuing Education hours on subjects I was new to... like infants, newborn jaundice, Breastfeeding complications, PIH, PPH, etc. Hope that helps.

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