New OB Nurses, Grads and Students, Please Feel Free to post your questions here:

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Mugwump had a great idea offering services to new grads as a mentor (thank you for that!)

So, I thought having a "sticky" for new grads, OB nurses, students, and others with questions who want to post these can do so here. We also seem to see many of the same questions over and over, so perhaps this would help serve as an ongoing discussion of common issues/questions we all seem to have on our minds. This could serve not just for those asking directly, but others who may be "lurking" and looking for information or considering a career in OB, newborn, GYN nursing, or midwifery, doula services, childbirth education, lactation consulting, or other related work.

So if any mod thinks this is a good idea, mind stickying this?

Let's give this a go and see how it works out. We have many potential "mentors" here among us who, I am sure, would LOVE to help a new nurse/midwife/doula or student on his or her way to a rewarding career. I know I would love to help out!

Hi...I am a student interested in labor and delivery. I have already applied to two nursing programs and I am waiting to see if I'm accepted. I am also volunteering in a labor and delivery department. I guess I am just really confused as to whether I should pursue nursing. I am really enjoying my volunteering in labor and delivery...i've seen two c-sections and hoping that soon I will get to see a natural delivery..problem is I have volunteered on other floors and hate it. I don't like what nurses do on other floors, they are always so stressed with so many patients. I don't see myself doing that...but I do like labor and delivery. So I guess my concern is: should I even pursue nursing if I have such a narrow focus? I've heard it's hard to get a job as a L&D nurse. I have gone to hospital websites and searched for what kind of jobs are available and they have maybe 1 or 2 openings for L&D, if any...i'm really worried that I'll end up in an area of nursing I don't like. I would appreciate any comments, advice, etc. Please help!

Thank you!!

I am in the same situation as you. I have always wanted to be a L&D nurse but never really liked what the rest of nursing entailed. I am now in my senior year of nursing school (graduating in May!) and looking for jobs on L&D floors. I would prefer to not work med/surg if possible, in fact I almost refuse to work med/surg. But there is Mother Baby/postpartum that can help you out. The fact that you are already volunteering on a L&D floor is going to be key. Keep with it!! As for the other parts of nursing, you will have to experience it all in school. However, it is not that bad. You get a feeling of accomplishment when you know that you are actually helping someone out and that you know what is going on. I have not had a passion for any other field of nursing other than my OB rotation, and it hasn't killed me doing it. In the long run it will totally be worth in when you are working on a L&D floor and enjoying your career.:pumpiron: Remember to stay strong!

I'm a new graduate from a foreign country and I am currently an orientee in Labor and delivery. I'm having a tough time because I do not have experience in doing internal cervical exams and fetal monitoring. I heard that there are L&D orientation and training classes you can take. I live in Southern California so please if you know of such a class, please reply. Thank you.

Specializes in L&D all the way baby!.
Hi...I am a student interested in labor and delivery. I have already applied to two nursing programs and I am waiting to see if I'm accepted. I am also volunteering in a labor and delivery department. I guess I am just really confused as to whether I should pursue nursing. I am really enjoying my volunteering in labor and delivery...i've seen two c-sections and hoping that soon I will get to see a natural delivery..problem is I have volunteered on other floors and hate it. I don't like what nurses do on other floors, they are always so stressed with so many patients. I don't see myself doing that...but I do like labor and delivery. So I guess my concern is: should I even pursue nursing if I have such a narrow focus? I've heard it's hard to get a job as a L&D nurse. I have gone to hospital websites and searched for what kind of jobs are available and they have maybe 1 or 2 openings for L&D, if any...i'm really worried that I'll end up in an area of nursing I don't like. I would appreciate any comments, advice, etc. Please help!

Thank you!!

I went to nursing school to be a labor nurse. It's what I always wanted to do and though I wouldn't say that I absolutely would NOT work med-surg, it certainly wouldn't be my first choice. I worked on my unit as a doula first then a student nurse. It's not impossible to get a job in L&D right out of school and in fact I think my passion for the unit has probably helped ;o) Good luck.

Hello. I have the opposite issue that alot of the new grads on this site have. I have been a med/surg RN for 12 years and recently started on a LDRP unit. I am feeling like a brand new grad all over again...and am not liking it! Yes, I have years of experience, but I don't feel like it is helping me at all right now. And on top of that, it has been a long time since I have had OB nursing courses. Has anyone else experienced this? I could use a little encouragement here....hoping this wasn't a huge mistake

While some of you were in school are there any web sites that help with chemistry, biology etc. that youd like to share? any tutor sites?

hey

Is it really hard to get a job in L&d?

hey.

I am a doula and i love it

I am not sure this is the right area, but I am a new grad in the post -partum gynecology area, and I have a just in case question. If you forget to give a medication like gentamicin to a newborn which is q18hrs and remember two hours later, what do you do? I would think that you would give it and then give tomorrow's dose two hours later, and document everything, what do you guys think?, the nurses on my floor had different opinions.

Thanks in advance

would it be considered a medication error because it wasn't given within the appropriate time for which is was scheduled

and then resume the schedule, instead of changing the schedule?

Yes, I found out thats exactly the right answer, thank you very much!

what do all of the mother/baby nurses out there think of a rn with 11 years med/surg/tele experience coming to mother baby unit?

Hello!

I am a new RN grad working in obstetrics, and I would love to go on to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. Unfortunately, Minnesota (where I live) is saturated for Midwives and there are not projected to be any future job openings at this time. I would also like to go on to specialize in Lactation, but at this time the hospital I work at has several full-time lactation nurses and no openings. I do plan on getting some good OB, L&D, and nursery experience before going on, but I am just thinking ahead at this point. I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions on where I could go with my nursing career based on my interests. I do have family here, so I am not wanting to leave Minnesota at this time.

Thanks much!

Fawn

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