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!

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

Mods? care to sticky this one?

Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/ER.
Mods? care to sticky this one?

Please sticky this!! I know it will be so helpful to so many of us. I will most definately be asking questions & this will also be a great re-enforcer to what we learn in class/clinicals.Thanks, CRB

I am a labor and delivery/midwife hopeful.

I have applied to an accelerated BSN/MSN program that will allow me to work while doing my MSN part time so I can get a few years experience. My question is, how can I increase my chances of getting a L & D or PP job after completing my RN certification? Would becoming a childbirth educator help? No hospitals in my area allow volunteers in L & D so that't not an option. I am a working on Doula certification so I have that going for me.

Any suggestions I would love. I know some people feel direct entry programs are bad due to lack of experience, but getting the job in L & D would give me 3 or 4 years' experience. Thanks for the help!!

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

Being a CBE and Doula will certainly NOT hurt. As soon as you get your BSN, try to get a job in OB. If you can't, you can try applying to work float pool or another unit and volunteer to float to OB whenever possible to get "face time" and experience.

http://www.hospitalsoup.com

list of hospitals nationwide ----there, you can find the addresses/phone numbers and web sites of hospitals. This will enable you to get in touch w/OB depts and human resources personnel about getting a position.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

never mind

Being a CBE and Doula will certainly NOT hurt. As soon as you get your BSN, try to get a job in OB. If you can't, you can try applying to work float pool or another unit and volunteer to float to OB whenever possible to get "face time" and experience.

http://www.hospitalsoup.com

list of hospitals nationwide ----there, you can find the addresses/phone numbers and web sites of hospitals. This will enable you to get in touch w/OB depts and human resources personnel about getting a position.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

I work in an OB dept and ours is a closed unit and we don't have floaters or registry from outside. This is due to the amount of orientation involved. You have to really know what to watch for as far as dfundal firmness etc.. The risk for hemmorhage is to great to allow floating. Just keep watching for the openings. Our hospital has a internship program and sometimes we hire new grads that went through an internship. Hope this helps!

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I work in an OB dept and ours is a closed unit and we don't have floaters or registry from outside. This is due to the amount of orientation involved. You have to really know what to watch for as far as dfundal firmness etc.. The risk for hemmorhage is to great to allow floating. Just keep watching for the openings. Our hospital has a internship program and sometimes we hire new grads that went through an internship. Hope this helps!
hmm I would guess that depends on where you work. We DO allow floaters where I am, (thank goodness) and fundal checks CAN be taught quite easily really---- it does not take years and years in OB to learn this. And nurses from other areas know how to take vital signs, and what to look for. WE never just "turn them loose" and on their own on the floor, we are always there to help and back them up.

If a person does not feel comfortable w/fundal checks (or other OB issues), I check behind her. I know what floats can do them, what ones cannot. The floats who come up to us regularly know what they are doing most of the time and are very good about asking when they reach their limits.

Many facilities DO allow floating, and even to OB. Ask the facilities where you are considering working if they are among them. I have worked in 3 facilties that DO use them. IT works out very well.

hey again deb! :wink2: i just got in contact with a l&d nurse at the local women's hospital about shadowing with her this summer! i'm soooo excited :) she also said she could hook me up with a pp nurse so i can see what that is like. depending on how that goes, i might *hopefully* volunteer as a doula for the rest of the summer. i'm hoping to do externships in l&d in the summer after my sophomore and junior years also. do employers consider externships to be "work experience"? i'm trying to get as much experience as possible in the whole maternity arena... any other suggestions of what i can do to get out there and get the experience? thanks for your help ladies!

~rachel~

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

YES YES YES externships and volunteering ARE valuable work experiences you certainly *must* include on your resume. I am so excited for you. What a great opportunity ! Congratulations to you (oh and hello again, been a while hasn't it).

I work as a nurse tech on a postpartum floor. We have a lot of pts from other countries. Many of them have different ideas about postpartum care, such as not bathing, not getting out of bed, not caring for their infant except to feed.

Do I respect their beliefs and let them to stay in bed, etc. or do I try to make them conform to the plan of care? We are taught to respect cultural diversity but what if that diversity puts pts at risk for DVT or infection?

Some nurses force the pts to ambulate, bathe and demonstrate infant care, while others allow the pts to do whatever they want. I am not sure which approach is correct.

Thanks for your help!

You must respect cultural diversity. However, if you think a practice is unsafe, you are certainly free to speak with the woman and her family and see what kind of compromise you can reach that will benefit her health and not undermine her cultural beliefs. This is your chance for teaching (as well as learning).

This is where your critical thinking skills come in to play and you "think outside the box." There are too many nurses out there who are stuck on policies and cannot (or don't want to) think outside that box.

I work in an OB dept and ours is a closed unit and we don't have floaters or registry from outside. This is due to the amount of orientation involved. You have to really know what to watch for as far as dfundal firmness etc.. The risk for hemmorhage is to great to allow floating. Just keep watching for the openings. Our hospital has a internship program and sometimes we hire new grads that went through an internship. Hope this helps!

There should be no problem with nurses floating to PP. Fundal checks, post-op section assessments and those related skills can be taught to any experienced med-surg nurse. On occasion, someone from Med-Surg floats to help us in times of high census. They do no labor or related activities but they certainly can help with PP's and well nursery.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
You must respect cultural diversity. However, if you think a practice is unsafe, you are certainly free to speak with the woman and her family and see what kind of compromise you can reach that will benefit her health and not undermine her cultural beliefs. This is your chance for teaching (as well as learning).

This is where your critical thinking skills come in to play and you "think outside the box." There are too many nurses out there who are stuck on policies and cannot (or don't want to) think outside that box.

very true.

+ Add a Comment