New grad who REALLY WANTS L&D

[BullyLoveRN]

Okay, so I had a hard time admitting it at first, but I've been bitten by the L&D bug!!!!! I'm a Senior in Nursing School in my last class (will graduate in August!!!!!) and my last class is "Transition to Professional Practice".... You're supposed to pick a floor you are interested in for clinical and hopefully learn something! Well, my first choice was L&D and I got it!!!! (only 2 spots out of almost 50 students!!!!). So the next couple of weeks will be the BEST! I have always (in the back of my head) had the idea that I would LOVE L&D, but I also have heard how hard it is to get into as a new grad (especially from a diploma program)... Truth is, I have never looked forward to something this much in all of my life! I am actually EXCITED to get up and go to clinical in the morning!!!! I love it! I still remember the first birth I witnessed (at a huge teaching hospital, with med students, interns, residents, attendings, and other nurses...) me saying out loud... "WOW I COULD DO THIS EVERYDAY!" I will never forget handing that beautiful baby girl over to her father for the first time, and the tears in his eyes! I really want to do this! I know there are a ton of threads like this one, but I was just wondering if anyone had any advice?!? It would be GREATLY appreciated!

This is my passion, I have never been so sure of anything... in my entire life!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Well if this is your passion, go for it!!! We need nurses like you! good luck!

[Bopeepinwv]

I share your passions for L&D, and wish you the best of luck. You mentioned the feeling you had when you handed the baby girl to her dad, have you thought about what you might feel if the baby doesn't survive or if it has birth defects? I am not trying to bring you down, just throwing out the possibilities. I do hope you enjoy your clinicals and the best of luck getting the job you want.

[Montessori Mommy]

I felt exactly the way you did! I honestly didn't enjoy any clinical except L & D. The key for me was to tell the nurses I was with in clinical that I wanted to work there. I also introduced myself to the nurse manager. I prepared my resume in December, and got the names of the nurse managers of the L & D units in my area. They had my resumes in hand by January, and I had two offers in February, to begin in June.

I ended up taking the position in the hospital where I did clinical. The nurses are wonderful, and the midwives & attendings are supportive. I'm very blessed!

Best of luck to you! If you know you want this, go after it!!

[studentnurserachel]

I think it is wonderful to have people who are excited about working in L&D, and hopefully with the time you spend this semester, you will be sure it is where you want to go. I felt the same way when I graduated, but there were no positions available at any of the local hospitals, so I did ICU for a year and made the switch. In retrospect, I am glad that I had that time to really develop my skills/time management abilities/etc. as a nurse first before making the transition to L&D and I think it has really paid off in my abilities. So if for some reason you can't get up there right away, look at the time you spend in med-surg/ICU/whatever as a time to develop skills that will make you a better overall nurse and therefore make you a better nurse for your laboring patients down the road. I'm not saying that people shouldn't go straight into L&D, I will say though that on the rare occasion when you really need some skill that med-surg nurses take for granted (i.e. assisting with a central line insertion, dropping an NG tube), you will be glad to have that experience under your belt. Good luck this term! Hopefully you make a favorable impression on the Nurse Manager of your unit and you will get in either when you graduate or later!