OB/Peds...How was your experience?

dmiller77 · Jan 10, 2010

I just finished my third semester, which included Peds, Mother/Baby and Med Surg III. I loved Mother baby, but like all nursing, it has its own special vocabulary. I felt like I was eating alphabet soup for a second. One thing that will be done to death in this class is massaging and checking the fundus. Also, be up on your vital sign norms for babies. I absolutely LOVED Mother/Baby. I will probably end up being a Labor and Delivery nurse.

What can I say about peds? No one that I talked to really enjoyed peds. It's one thing to love kids, but it is really different when you are dealing with sick kids. If you let it, it can break your heart. Plus, you are not just taking care of the kids, you are taking care of the parents too. Their emotions run the gamut and sometimes they are harder to deal with that the children. Dealing with babies and kids is a real adjustment after just taking care of adults. Just go into clinicals with a positive attitude and you will do fine.

guiltysins · Jan 10, 2010

I haven't done them yet but a few of my friends had mixed experiences. Some of my friends loved OB while others couldn't stand it. It was something they couldn't see themselves doing and they had a hard time getting into it. Also OB is a very difficult clinical. A lot of information since you're caring for not one but two and in some cases more. Some people didn't do so well with seeing a live birth and a c-section so just kinda prepare yourself for that. Same thing with peds. A lot of people love children but some people get very emotionally attached to their pediatric patients which isn't a bad thing but it can definetely take a toll on you mentally. Some are very sick and miserable, sometimes the actions or lack of their parents can make you angry, it's a lot of balancing of your own and your patients emotions. The one thing that makes OB and Peds kinda stand out from the other clinicals is that they are very family orientated so there's a lot of educating going on as well.

There were parts that people did like but for some that did rotations in PICU and NICU, it was a little too much for them. Which is understandable. I plan to be a mother/baby or peds nurse so I can't wait to learn all of this stuff. As the person above me said, go in being positive and an open mind. Some people dread it before they even have it because it's not what they wanna do which I think just makes doing it more difficult.

RhodyGirl, RN · Jan 10, 2010

I loved maternity. Seeing c-sections and live births were amazing; I just enjoyed the atmosphere.

However, on the slow days....it was realllllllllllly slow.

Taking pedi this upcoming semester (4th semester out of 6), and NOT looking forward to it. I have friends who have taken the class who've told me how horrible it is. We'll see.

peaches456 · Jan 10, 2010

i absolutely loved OB, it was great to care for people we were happy and wanted to learn. I have peds this semester, I'm nervous to deal with sick kids. I just kept thinking its going to be heartbreaking.

HopefulRN2010 · Jan 11, 2010

I absolutely LOVED peds! It is what I went to Nursing School for and it really reenforced why I wanted to be a nurse. The NICU was my favorite part, which is where I will hopefully end up someday :)

OB was a different experience. I didn't mind L&D, it was interesting, but like someone else said when it is slow it is REALLY slow! And for some reason I did not like Postpartum at all. I really like the baby part of it, but that was about it.

Peds and OB are kinda like starting nursing school all over again. They have so many of their own terms and abbreviations, and having to learn vitals and assessments on children/infants/newborns was a lot of information. But I really enjoyed it! Hope you enjoy it :)