Need info on starting nursing career

[ChandraS.]

Hello! My name is Chandra, I'm a sophomore in college and I have just recently decided to change my major to nursing. I would prefer to be an obstetric nurse, but with all my searching on the internet and in the library I can find almost no imformation on it! I would like to know what kind of degrees I can or should get, what is required before I can get a job at a hospital or clinic, and exactly what my responsibilities would be in this particular field. Any information or advice on this would be very helpful! Thanks!

[hrjang]

Allnursing.com: Ob-Gyn Nursing and Midwifery Nursing

https://allnurses.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35

AWHONN

http://www.awhonn.org/awhonn/

Allnursingschools.com:become a Certified Nurse Midwife.

http://www.allnursingschools.com/faqs/cnm.php

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

No matter what type of nursing you practice you have to be licensed. After that, you learn on the job for speciality practice such as OB. Your duties as an OB nurse would be to assist Mom in delivery, maintain IV's, give meds, and generic nursing for "surgical" patients, such as frequent assessment and pain control. There are many other duties of course. But nursing school just prepares you for getting a license. It does not teach toward specific areas of practice. There are three routes for being a Registered Nurse. One is a diploma program (not many left), another is an Associates Degree in Nursing and the last is Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. The later takes as longer but makes you more marketable for management positions (which you may want in the future). Nursing has many facets, and I recommend it because as your goals change you can move from one area of nursing to another.

[jzprple]

Hey Chandra--

where are you going to school now? Are you wanting to stay in Nebraska for your nursing program?? I'm actually starting the accelerated program @ Creighton this fall. I have a degree in public relations and Spanish and have been out of school about 6 years. For the past 3 years I've been working in the healthcare industry which is how I decided to change my career path. One thing I wish I would have had time to do before starting school is spend some time volunteering at a hospital or in some medical field. Granted my job has given me plenty of hands on experience, but I'd love to have had time to actually observe a hospital setting.

and this is a great site..you'll get lots of info from everyone on here!

Julie