Newbie, OB or M/S???

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Ok, I have a decision to make and I need a little advice from all of you pros! I will graduate in August with my LPN. I have ALWAYS wanted to work OB, that's my ulitmate goal. Where I am in Texas LPN's can work P/P and sometimes nursery. I feel quite strong that I could land a job in P/P at a local hospital. My question is, should I do M/S while I am continuing on for my RN, which I should get in another year, or go with P/P since I know that OB is where I want to be, for sure. I have one of my instructors, who was the Director of OB at this hospital, telling me that I would be fine going straight into OB, and then another instructor who is also an OB nurse telling me that M/S first is essential. I am sooooo confused now!! I do not want to do myself or my pts a disservice by jumping into OB without any prior nursing experience, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with M/S and miss out on an opportunity to do what I have always dreamed of. I am not that opposed to M/S, but my heart and soul is in OB nursing. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.

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I do not think MS is really required if you are going to go for OB, which it sounds like is what you truly want to do.

MS is such a burnout field any more and I would hate to see you, as enthused as you are today, burn out. We need you in OB.

MS is great, don't misunderstand. It isn't the only way, though, to build a foundation. Any type of Nursing you do will lay a foundation and you can build upon it. Think about it - if you care for colectomies and fractures and cancer surgery post-op's, how is that really going to prepare you for OB, where your pts are having babies? They're not dealing, normally, with cancer and arthritis and Crohn's Disease or tetorifice or broken bones.

If you wanted to go into Psych, let's say, you might want to get a solid background in MS first so you would recognize medical issues that could come up in your Psych pts. Butin OB, you'll have monitors and be doing frequent VS anyway, watching for any problems. You'll be working around midwives and/or anesthetists as well as your doctors, all of whom should all be tuned in to any other issues that could come up.

As for learning to organize yourself by doing MS, just learn to organize by doing OB.

Best wishes to you and congratulations.

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I do not think MS is really required if you are going to go for OB, which it sounds like is what you truly want to do.

MS is such a burnout field any more and I would hate to see you, as enthused as you are today, burn out. We need you in OB.

MS is great, don't misunderstand. It isn't the only way, though, to build a foundation. Any type of Nursing you do will lay a foundation and you can build upon it. Think about it - if you care for colectomies and fractures and cancer surgery post-op's, how is that really going to prepare you for OB, where your pts are having babies? They're not dealing, normally, with cancer and arthritis and Crohn's Disease or tetorifice or broken bones.

If you wanted to go into Psych, let's say, you might want to get a solid background in MS first so you would recognize medical issues that could come up in your Psych pts. But in OB, you'll have monitors and be doing frequent VS anyway, watching for any problems. You'll be working around midwives and/or anesthetists as well as your doctors, all of whom should all be tuned in to any other issues that could come up.

As for learning to organize yourself by doing MS, just learn to organize by doing OB.

Best wishes to you and congratulations.

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Thanks for the advice, I guess it just depends on who you talk to. Some people really insist that M/S experience is a must for a new nurse. I just know that I won't be happy until I get to OB anyway, so why torture myself. Keep the comments coming, I'd love to hear what all of you think!

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Specializes in school nursing.

I think if your heart is in OB - go right to it. I just finished my 6 week OB clinical rotation in May - the babys were sooo cute. Really nothing quite like it. I thought it was where the fun is in nursing. Too bad others may not feel the same - but it is the different types of nursing that make our feild so special. Most trades when you get tired of what you do - you quit. With nursing you have choices that make for a place for everyone.

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i am a nursing student and i am also very new to this site... i have to interview a nurse in the field i want to to go into(ob-gyn) about all the different kinds of paperwork they have to do. Is anyone out there interested? thank you so much!!!

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Specializes in Mother-Baby, Antenatal.

I think you should go with what you love.

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Thanks everyone, ya'll are really helping me! I was also wondering if it is difficult to go from OB to another unit with only OB/PP experience? I have heard that the hospital where I may go to work likes to pull LPN's from PP to M/S or where ever they need them, so I was just wondering how difficult that would be early on. Thanks again for all of the input.

Sorry for the ya'll, my Texas twang tends to show itself every now and then!!!:lol2:

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I 2nd the other post that says to do what you want. Go for what your heart tells you to do.

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I went for OB/GYN right out of school and loved it. I am now working in med/surg because I wanted to diversify my nursing experience, but if you can seriously see yourself working OB/Postpartum for the rest of your nursing career, then go for it.

There is honestly truth to either side of the argument. Usually the older, more experienced nurses are the ones to tell you that you need 2 years med-surg experience first. It is helpful experience for sure, but I think that it is easy to become bogged down and burned out if you are not careful. Some facilities require you to work a certain time period before you can transfer without your manager's approval. Then again, some managers, if desperate enough not to lose people, have been known to block transfers (meaning you would have to go to another facility to work Postpartum).

Bottom line, go with your gut. If you decide years down the road that you are ready for a change you can always do so at that point.

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