OB/Peds Class......

Hi! I am in my ob rotation right now and I am excited! Just because you have done the skill before on a dummy does not mean they are going to throw you out to the wolves by yourself. I did meds by tube feedings last semester (a skill we did not learn in class) and by the second time I did it, I felt comfortable to do it on my own. My point is, they walk you through whatever skill they want you to do and then when they think you can do it on your own, then they let you do it by yourself. They don't expect you to do it perfect your first time on a real person, just that you know the main basics. Volunteer to do things and they will be so excited you took the initiative to be the first to try it, they will be extra patient with you because they know you are setting an example and essentially teaching your classmates. =)

Don't be scared!!! You'll be happy when you get to do some real stuff! I was nervous too, but if you read ahead so that you know what is going on, on the monitors... reassuring, nonreassuring patterns... be sure to look up all that goes on with pitocin, pain meds and also all that goes on with an epidural... and cause for emergency C/S.(OB nurses get busy and they do all and are in charge of all, many times the docs just are there to play catch, LOL). This way you can evaluate too, and maybe if something wild does happen (which we don't want to have happen, of course) you'll be able to understand it somewhat and not miss out. There is a lot of info to digest!!! But get those base things down so you have some idea of what you might see, if you are going to have to go to clinical before you've got a chance to get a grip on studying. :wink2:

I just took OB/PEDS last semester. My Maternal/Newborn Reviews and Rationale book really helped simplify things for me and gave me a clear path. Also, really pay attention in clinical. Some things I just did not get until I was in clinical.

I start OB in three weeks, thanks to the OP for starting this post !

I will start nursing school this summer....but from the patient's point of view from a woman who had 5 kids....

1. Don't discount what the mother-to-be is saying...she might be right. (Doc said, Oh, you'll be another 45 min....I am going for a coffee break. I grabbed his lab coat and told him not to go anywhere! I was NOT going to be 45 min! He did, I wasn't. No one in the room but me and hubby....son born on a 'normal' bed, aspirated the amniotic fluid AND the shock to him caused him to suddenly and sharply lift his head....tearing my privy parts into 3 pieces! Oh, did I forget to mention that they hadn't even given a local yet?! Hmmm, wonder what it was like when they had to put needles in THOSE TEARS to numb it out for sutures? Hmmmmm.?!)

2. Understand that some 1st time mothers - especially us MILITARY ladies, will take instructions LITERALLY. (Doc said walking would speed up labor. This was at 6 PM. Doc comes back at 10 PM...asks pt how she(me) is doing. I tell him that I am tired...can I sit down now? That is when doc realized that I had been walking non-stop for the past 4 hours!)

3. Stool softners...or prune juice... -> here is a story that would scare me to death today. On child #1 in 1985 you still spent 3 days in the hospital (thank GOD!). With my meals they gave me prune juice. I couldn't gag the stuff down....but give me a box of prunes and I will eat the whole thing! They also gave me some kind of stool softner as well. Three days later they are ready to discharge me and I have YET to have a BM. Just before d/c, I feel the urge....head to the toilet. Within a min or two I am pinging the emergency button while sitting on the throne! The BM has me stretched from here to kingdom come and still won't come out (impacted big time - no pun intended). I am in extreme pain and crying for the nurses to do something. They tried to do an enema, but the water couldn't get past the impaction. I am on the bed writhing in pain while they wait for the doc to call back. Finally he orders a muscle relaxant and I get a nice shot in the buttocks. Ah.....the muscle relaxant started working, the pain is subsiding....too bad hubby was sitting behind me (I was on my left side, dress hiked up to waist nothing waist down....) when 3 days worth of huge, impacted BM came flying!:rotfl:

---> I have no idea what I would have done if this was when they discharged you next day. I would have been at home, alone with my newborn when that painful event would have occurred!

4. Understand when we get irritated......gee this is kid #5....ALL prior labors got 'stuck' at 5 cm....ALL required pitocin...what makes ANYONE think THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE ANY DIFFERENT IS BESIDES ME!!!!!! (Oh, and BTW, it was! LOL I had back labor this time and once again they made me wait....and low and behold, I got to 6 cm on my own! No pitocin this time....but, you can only imagine why I would be irritated! :) )

5. If this is pregnancy #8 and kid #5.....(3 miscarriages)...It's a good bet that we know what Rhogam is. (Well, us RH neg mom's anyway!) If the law requires that you explain it to us anyway, tell us that...we don't like feeling like we are being treated like idiots.

6. If you want a pleasant pt (well as much as one can be in labor) do not tell us that you are not going to start the pitocin until morning because...."there is no sense disturbing the doctor". :anbd: **especially if it's true** You will have an angry pt on your hands! (It was 11 pm when the nurse told me this....on one of my "stuck at 5 cm" labors....Change of shift.....STILL 5 cm. Of course, I have been UP ALL NIGHT with contractions. Doc orders pit and baby is out 1 hr 29 min later. Think I wanted to kill someone?!?!?)

Anyway....Have fun! I am seriously looking forward to this part of training!

To kinda go with FLmomof5...I had my son 2 years ago and I can tell you the nurse made my experience...She was awesome...She even stayed at change of shift so she could be there when I gave birth, because I was a young mom (18) and she knew I had had a bad experience with the nurse manager when I had been in there before when I thought my water had broke. She asked me, privately, who I wanted in the room when I gave birth, and then told everyone that they could not be in there (and made her seem like the bad guy). She believed me when I said I could feel the pain (some of the nursing students in there believed that I was just feeling pressure because surely, my epidural could not have worn off!) and she was genuinely nice. I really liked her and I am going on the floor I gave birth on this week, so I hope to see her and thank her, because I never really did. My postpartum was terrible though. Make sure you ask if the new mom would like help taking a shower or would like a bed bath. I was so worn out and in pain from my stitch that I could barely walk and could not stand up for long periods of time.