OB Rotations

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2011

Ah, yes, childless, unwed males teaching breast feeding and baby care to new, young, excited mothers. I can't think of anything I have less credibility with, lol.

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Jun 1, 2011

We rotated between L&D and PP.

PP was pretty boring...a majority of it is teaching. If you had a mom who has already had kids, then there isn't much teaching to do :/ Most of the medications were on a PRN basis...assessments were easy, just remember the BUBBLE-HE acronym:

Breasts (breast feeding okay? discharge characteristics? any problems? that sort of thing)

Uterus (feel the fundus, it should be HARD, not boggy!)

Bladder (urinating okay?)

Bowel (bowel habits + listening to bowel sounds)

Lochia (amount/color/odor)

Episiotomy (if applicable)

Homan's (check hospital policy...as I'm sure you know there has been controversy that eliciting Homan's Sign may dislodge a clot...I remember when I was in OB 3 years ago we checked for Homan's Sign but I know things have changed)

Emotional (look at infant-maternal attachment - are they bonding? that sort of thing)

You may give injections to mom, such as Rhogam...you will also most likely give Hep B vaccines to baby.

L&D is mostly observation. You will be observing the fetal heart monitor for accelerations, decelerations and late decals. Monitor vital signs. Ensure comfort measures for mom. You should experience at least one live birth, if not more. During the birthing process it was more like observation...I volunteered to hold one of the legs and help mom into position, and also helped coach through the birthing process. Once the baby is out, you may or may not do the APGAR score...chances are the RN will do the 1st one and you will do the second one (APGAR scores need to be obtained at 1min & 5min after birth). After the baby has been checked you swaddle, give back to mom and ensure more comfort measures. You will also most likely see at least one C-section during your rotation, too.

Overall, OB was not my cup of tea. PP was too slow-paced for me and I didn't enjoy L&D, but maybe for you it will be different. Good luck!

closetoyou21, CNA · Jun 1, 2011

I am currently doing my OB rotations. We have been rotating at the hospital(nursery,postpartum,OR csections,etc..)so everyone can get experience assessing patients and teaching. It is very interesting and you will like it. I will recommend that if you have time and can find an OB book to read, do so to get ahead. We use ati testing site at our school, so I purchased that book prior to class and knew a lot before class started. You will love it!

BRFirefly · Jun 1, 2011

My OB rotation was 3 weeks (3 twelve-hour days and 3 four-hour days) at the VERY beginning of my 3rd semester. We didn't have any of the theory class yet so the instructor's standards were not as high for us as the groups that followed who benefited from a fews weeks of classroom time.

I spent 2 days on L&D, one on Mother/Baby, one in the NICU, one at a women's health clinic and one doing an online unit activity.

For L&D, we basically shadowed the nurses. I saw 2 delivers (one C/S in the OR and one lady partsl birth in a patient's room). Watched admit assessments. Placed moms on fetal heart monitors. Patient teaching. Newborn assessments, vitamin K injections, and baths. There was a lot of downtime so we got a chance to really talk to the nurses about their jobs. If we were interested, we got to attend teaching sessions with a lactation counselor.

For postpartum (normally Mother/Baby), my patient's newborn was in the NICU so I just had the mom. She was on an MgSO4 drip so i was assessing UOP, reflexes, and respirations every hour. I also administered pain medication. Again, a lot of downtime if you are interested in OB, take advantage and chat up the nurses. Or bring your notes from class.

For NICU, we shadowed. Couldn't give any medications (because really, who wants a bunch of student nurses giving drugs to their babies?) but we feed and rocked the babies. My classmate and I actually took turned reading notecards from class to the infants. Doubt they understand the pharmacology of antibiotics but it helped us review of the exam and they calmed down at the sound of our voices.

During that rotation, one of the babies (an older one...several months old) fell into respiratory distress (O2 sat in the 60s). There was talk of a possible intubation but we had to leave the unit before that took place.

As far as male nursing students in OB, not many of the patients had a problem with it. The only issue was that one of the moms didn't want my male classmate in the room while she was breastfeeding but no big deal.

klk408 · Jun 1, 2011

In my OB rotation, we spent two days in Labor & Delivery and the rest of the time in post-partum. In L&D I saw a c-section and a lady partsl birth. When I was in post-partum, we typically had two moms for full care and babies for assessments only. We had no specific nursery day, but could spend time with our babies if they were in there. I also saw a circumcision on the pp unit. I had two guys in my clinical group and both of them said it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be! It tends to be a fairly slow rotation because everyone, for the most part, is well. You'll be passing lots of pain meds, but not much else. Don't worry about the teaching part - I mean, don't act like you have no idea what you're talking about - but people understand that we're students. I found that my primary nurse, or instructor, was always willing to step in when I couldn't answer a question. I am female and do have a child of my own, but that certainly doesn't make me an expert in all things baby!

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · Jun 1, 2011

I hated my maternity rotation. I take a natural approach to a lot of things, including birth and whatnot, so unfortunately didn't see a lot of that being here in America. So there's a lot of inductions, c-section care, bottles, mutilated memberes, giving moms the correct info after a nurse walks out after giving bad info, etc etc. If you like babies and aren't bothered with everything else...then you'll love this rotation. Good luck!!

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2011

Overall, OB was not my cup of tea. PP was too slow-paced for me and I didn't enjoy L&D, but maybe for you it will be different. Good luck!

Nah, I'm pretty sure I'll hate it. I hated OB in paramedic school. It's not the same, but it's close enough. It's just not an area that I want any involvement with, and I think in this instance ignorance is bliss. I don't even like messing with babies. I'd rather have a puppy.

AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP · Jun 2, 2011

I've got OB/Peds this fall, and I'd like to know what some of you had to during your OB rotations. What else is typically required during OB? For example, are you forced to rotate through the nursery, etc?

Yes we rotated through the nursery for the newborn exam skills and eye goo and IM skills check offs. I tried to get in the nursery and OR as much as possible to avoid labor sitting.

I'll have that along with community and public health as well as issues and trends in healthcare and nursing.

I'd rather die than do that semester again.

CrazierThanYou · Jun 2, 2011

I just started my OB rotation yesterday. Census was low so I was assigned to a mother and a (very annoying) classmate was assigned to the baby. The parents were very resistant to care of the baby and wouldn't let us or the nurses do much at all. So, I checked on the mother a bazillion times, checked her fundus and her breasts, asked if she was doing okay, etc.

We did get to watch the baby's circumcision.

Most of the day was spent waiting for something to happen...

shortnorthstudent · Jun 2, 2011

My school has OB as our first hospital based clinical. Assessment, teaching and PO/IM meds were the primary focus. We spent the majority of our time in postpartum with one day in L&D and one day in the newborn nursery. We did mom one week, then baby, and then after that had a mom/baby couplet and the last week got 2 couplets.

Honestly, it was a good transition to the hospital setting, especially for those who have not worked in a hospital. Good practice for assessment and teaching, but also a lot of maid service. Even the high risk patients are generally not very acute and the majority of the nursing is psychosocial and a colace. By the end of the term, I was certain that I could never work on a non-high risk postpartum floor. I cannot imagine doing postpartum further into the program once you know and can do more.

healthstar, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2011

I absolutely loved my OB rotation, it was interesting. We only had to do physical assessments on mother and baby, insert catheters, Vitamin K injection for the baby. We were forced to go to NICU, nursery and shadow nurses. I watched lots of C-section procedures. It was the easiest rotation for me. However, this rotation was every guys nightmare loooool...good luck.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2011

I'm a few years out of school, but I feel your pain because even as a female, I am not into OB in any way, shape or form. But, I tried to take out of it whatever I could. If you get a chance to start any IVs, pregnant ladies usually have really nice big veins that are easy to find, so good practice. Might get to practice some foleys.

Big tip for you tall guys (I am 5'10)...if you get stuck in the newborn nursery bathing babies all day, try not to hunch over too much. The bassinets are at a fixed height and designed for the average nurse (i.e. short). I ended up with a back injury from bending at the waist all day bathing babies.