Were u required to have experience before doing OBGYN nursing?

OB/GYN NP · Jul 27, 2003

I'm assuming that when you say an OB/GYN program, you mean working as an OB/GYN nurse? Sorry if this is an inappropriate response because that's not what you meant, but I worked for a year or so on a med-surg floor before I went to L&D because a trusted Nursing instructor suggested it. I felt that it gave me some good experience in general med/surg issues. Even though you learn it in school, it is helpful to do some general nursing, because as every nurse knows, the books aren't true to life. They'll give you the basics, but it's experience that really gets your feet wet, so to speak. I've known some excellent OB/GYN nurses who didn't work a day of med-surg, so I don't think it's imperative, but I do feel like it helped me to get my feet wet before I began to work in a specialty setting. Good luck to you!

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 28, 2003

Nope. Direct entry into OB from nursing school here. I could not do med-surg where I worked. YUCK.

fergus51 · Jul 28, 2003

I went straight in too. I don't think med surg experience necessarily helps in OB, it's really about your personality.

elleRN · Jul 28, 2003

went in to l&d after being a med-surg nurse for 1 1/2 years, and feel the experience was invaluable. i knew i always wanted to be an l&d nurse, but i wanted to learn to be a nurse first. the skills you pick up and learn in med-surg are so important for l&d. priorities, time management, iv insertion, foley insertion, post anesthesia care, names and usages of medications. pregnant women get sick too, and have some serious underlying medical problems. i recommend going med-surg for at least a year before going into a specialty area, not that med surg isn't a specialty because it is in its own way. good luck with whatever you do!

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 28, 2003

You learn time management other such skills in any area of hospital nursing. Med-surg experience is very valuable but dont' think you can't learn the skills you need as a direct-entry OB nurse. I would not have changed my path for the world.

babynurse32 · Aug 27, 2003

I am a new nurse who went right into OB. I am so glad I did it that way. I don't think you need prior experience if you have a good preceptor andorientation set up.

ragingmomster, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 27, 2003

I went back to school specifically to get into L&D. After conversations with trusted mentors, professors and mid-wives I decided that in order to hit the big city hospital L&D with high risk pregnancies, I needed the M/S experience. I think that if I wanted to go to a local hospital with

RNKitty · Aug 28, 2003

Just a recommendation: if you are considering a small community hospital that does only 35-50 deliveries a month, a year of experience is a great idea. However, I would get that experience on a high risk, Level III L&D floor that sees at least 200 deliveries a month. That way you can get up to speed quickly in the areas of your practice that are critical. Just because a L&D unit is labeled low-risk does not mean you don't see high risk patients. You just don't see them as often, and so you must be able to recognize complications and act quickly. JMHO.

Med Surg? I never had it, but I am glad I trained high risk before I became the only person in the hospital who knew anything about L&D.

finallyRN · Aug 28, 2003

I had 10 months of med-surg experience before going to L/D. I agree with others in saying that my experience helps me in L/d. We are not a high risk unit, but do 300-350 deliveries a month. Just because we are not labeled High Risk doesn't mean that we don't occasionally get "high risk patients". We also get pregnant women who have "med-surg" problems. When these patients come in, the rest of the staff comes to those of us that have Med-surg experience for help.

I am glad I had my med-surg experience. It wasn't required for my unit to have the experiece but I'm glad I have it.

webbiedebbie · Aug 29, 2003

I went into L&D as a new grad. I didn't have problems because I didn't do Med/Surg. I had an excellent orientation. I even sat for the certification exam after 2 years of working OB and passed!

winterblue · Sep 2, 2003

I was hired as a new grad in L&D, but did my preceptorship in nursing school on a med/surg unit, and I have mixed feelings about it. One one hand, I value the experience of med/surg b/c we often see pregnant women with medical conditions (the other day I saw a laboring mom with a PICC line--the first I'd seen since nursing school), and the experience of working with BG testing and giving insulin helps tremendously. However, I wish sometimes that I'd had that extra L&D experience in school.