Ok, I'll try to word this as well as I can. You know how you can "help" epidural pts push by putting your fingers in the birth canal and creating pressure on the posterior wall? I was taught just to push your fingers down to "show" them where to push. I've seen RNs and MDs do it different ways, like just pushing and also stretching (moving the fingers in a sweeping motion). I always just push down when I do it, bc I don't want to cause too much swelling.
Today a resident asked me (after a pt wasn't pushing effectively) if I was doing that. I said yes, and he said, now you know, just push down like *this* with a little demonstration, not *this* the sweeping motion. I said sure. Then when my manager came to help the pt push all she did was the sweeping motion and the pt had her baby within 20 min. I never got a chance to ask her or the resident the reasoning behing each, so I was wondering what words of wisdom you guys had.
Side note, manager has been on L&D 26 yrs, and this is a new 4 yr resident. But I do try to respect the MDs bc they have to know all the newest research and practice guidelines (obviously not the RN stuff), as we are in a teaching facility.
