New Grad L&D

[athanasack]

Hi All!

Sorry if these questions have been asked before but I have been trying to get as many thoughts on the matter as possible. I am graduating August 9th from an accelerated BSN program and am currently in the process of looking for a job. I am certain that OB/Gyn nursing is where I want to end up, however, I am running into the common problem of area (Nashville) hospitals wanting experienced nurses for those positions. Obviously I have no experience beyond clinicals. There also won't be any nurse residency programs offering a Women's Health track by the time I graduate and need a job. I am still applying to L&D jobs but as a new grad, I don't want to get my hopes up.

I have pretty much been offered a position at a long term acute care hospital, where I know I would learn a lot and the pay is decent for the area. I am wondering if I would gain good experience there that would help me get into OB nursing, or if I should keep looking for a med-surg job? And if I do end up having to pick from one of these two choices, is there anything I should do in the meantime to help me use/improve on my existing skills and demonstrate my interest?

Thanks!

[knittygrittyRN, MSN, RN]

Here's my experience:

I was hired after I graduated onto a med/surg floor (infectious disease), currently I work on women's health and I float to L&D and postpartum. I wouldn't trade my med/surg experience for anything. A lot of the nurses on my floor are unfamiliar with common medical issues simply because these types of patients never used to be admitted to our unit. I feel like I have a much more solid background to work with especially with patients coming in with numerous comorbidities.

At my hospital, this path seems to be the most common way nurses get into L&D, they start elsewhere and then move in when there's an opening. Usually they'll try and take nurses from my unit since we have some experience already but its not necessary.

L&D nurses are like critical care nurses, so think about cardiac experience, arrhythmia courses, ACLS, PALS, etc. You could also look into breastfeeding courses, becoming an LC/IBLCE to show that you're interested and possibly open up some other doors for you.

[almostnurse0625]

Hey, I'm in Nashville also! Have you looked at Centennial? They're piloting a new residency program to begin in December I believe, and I know OB is a track choice. Might be worth looking into and then if you were to get hired, you could try and work some other job to bridge the gap for a couple months? Or I'd suggest looking outside the city (Hendersonville, Lebanon, Smyrna, etc...) and see if you might have luck there. A lot of people want to work right in the downtown loop, so you might have less competition outside a bit. Another option is you could always accept any nursing job you can get, and then apply to Vandy's Feb. cohort. You just can't have more than 6 months of nursing experience for that one, so you could still be considered. Best of luck!

[athanasack]

Thanks for the suggestions! I actually have an interview with Centennial for their GYN oncology and medical oncology unit. The recruiter was very upfront saying that the GYN oncology position is not a pathway for L&D, however. Does that mean working in that unit will hinder me in any way?

[Floxy, BSN]

Have you tried at Nashville General? I bunch of my friends were hired there for Nurse residency programs in ICU, we did clinicals there and I would try for OB there. Its a really good hospital to get training at.