I thought I would hate OB, or at least be disinterested, and I loved it! I would say though, that a good third of the girls in my nursing program have said they wanted to be L&D or NICU nurses since before even starting school, let alone stepping onto an OB floor. Are there any L&D nurses who just kind of fell into it, or were surprised to find out that's what they loved?
Although I didn't enjoy postpartum as much, my L&D clinicals were so much fun, and everything in my OB class was so interesting to learn about! I love the elderly, but having a younger client population was also kind of fun. I'm also a teeny bit of a man-hater (I have a female dentist, only go to female doctors when I can help it, and I wish I could find a female mechanic), so I really love being able to help out other women. I'm married to a man, I just am inclined to think women are better at most things...
Anyway. I'd really like to know if there are other people like me, who didn't feel from the beginning like they were destined to work with pregnant ladies and babies. Do a lot of people start their careers in L&D, or if not start there, try and get there as soon as they get their "year of experience" in? Or are there a lot of people who spend a decade or two doing other things first? Also, I'm about to start my first job on a step down/telemetry floor, which I am very excited about. Is this sort of experience helpful at all, or will I still feel like a new grad after a couple years of that kind of experience?
I'm sure there are all different kinds of nurses with different backgrounds who wind up in L&D, I'd just love to hear about some personal experiences. I find it very difficult to "know" what I want to do, especially before I've ever done anything, and am open to just about every kind of nursing there is to do in a hospital.
