Moving to the OB Field

[momwifenurse07]

My name is Ali and I have been a RN on a progressive care unit specializing in cardiac and stroke patients for the past 2.5 years. Since nursing school I have known that I wanted to eventually end up working in the OB field. After a couple years of nursing experience and having 2 kids of my own I know with even more certainty that I want to make the move to this specialty. (I actually got offered a mother-baby position as a new grad but had to turn it down because it was part-time and I needed full-time status. I also figured that some floor experience would benefit me in the long run.)

I love the people I work with now but I am starting to get burned out and I feel drained after every shift. My husband and I agree that now would be a good time for me to try and transition into my "dream job". There are a couple positions listed at a hospital in-network that I am very interested in applying for. I am trying to work on my resumé but I am having a hard time figuring out how to make it appealing to the field even though I have no prior experience other than from nursing school and my senior practicum.

The position I am most interested in is full-time L&D day shift. I feel that I would be a great fit for this and also more relatable to new mothers as I have two little ones myself and I am currently breastfeeding as well. Is there any way I can incorporate this into my skills on my resumé?

I really don't know where to start as the last time I was job-hunting I was a new grad focusing on my clinical and academic experiences.

Thank you for your input in advance!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Most every applicant to L&D will have young children or have given birth or are breast-feeding or have breast-fed. That is not going to set you apart from most other applicants. Also, you are most likely going to have to start out on nights. Depending on the unit, you may have to wait months or years before you get a dayshift position.

I would focus on your other nursing experience, let them know that you're good at multitasking and Time management. Let them know that you would be an excellent nurse to take care of women with comorbidities.

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

Yes, focus on explaining how your RN (and other job) experience will help you be an asset to the unit. While personal experience with birth/breastfeeding is great, it is also nearly universal in this female dominated profession, and will only serve to make the nurse manager wonder if your clinical experience is lacking and you are grasping at straws to try and make up for it :)

If you get an interview, you can certainly bring up your personal experiences, but tie it in to how it has has affected your clinical practice or your personal ethics. Also, be forewarned that even in nursing, and even in OB where we take care of mothers, those of us with young children sometimes have to face (illegal) discrimination from admin who worry that we won't be available for rotating shifts or that we might be more likely to call out because of a child related issue. So be very clear about your availability and your solid childcare arrangements, if you choose to bring up your children.

eta- I breastfed both my kids for 2+ years, had 2 homebirths and gave birth to twins in the hospital (first lady partsl, second emergent c/s) as a gestational surrogate. These experiences were absolutely important to me and I love having a personal understanding of these issues. But, playing devil's advocate, my homebirths might make me *less* desirable as a candidate because the nurse manager might think I am biased towards home birth or natural birth. My extended breastfeeding might make her think I would be critical towards formula feeding moms. My history as a surrogate might make her worry that I will undertake another surrogacy, necessitating extended time off. So sharing personal experience carries the risk that the interviewer won't find it as positive as you do.

I recently started working in L&D, after a loooooong hiatus from inpatient women's health. I was really worried about how I could make myself a desirable candidate, so I focused on my advanced certifications and education, my strong foundation of nursing skills, my high work ethic and open availability, and my ability to learn quickly and easily. Nobody knew about my personal reproductive/breastfeeding history until I was already hired. Now they call me in to do all the natural births and the complicated breastfeeding cases (well, that might have more to do with my CPM certification and my status as a nurse midwifery student, as well as my lactation counseling training, lol)