Observation Day in L&D

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi, I am currently a nursing student. I am in OB clinical and today I went down to L&D to observe 2 C-sections and a lady partsl birth. When I go to observe anyone, I always am polite, professional, and I stay out of the way or assist as much as possible. I always thank anyone that helps me.

I have to say that I was really disappointed in the nurses' attitudes in the L&D unit. Not only did they act like I didn't exist, they badmouthed each other and the doctors on the unit. The one nurse in charge of the patient I was observing for the 1st C-section ignored me and left me behind in the hall. When I asked what I needed to do to prepare, she barked at me to put on a hat and mask. I rarely saw anyone smile and the majority of the time the nurses were complaining about something or another while sitting at the nurses station doing nothing but eating and reading magazines. The big problem I have is that this is a teaching hospital, and the nurses were not busy. There is no reason why they could not have had the courtesy to speak to me and acknowledge my presence. I felt like I was the outsider at the popular girls' table or something, with the negative vibe I got from being there. Is this an OB phenomenon or does this happen in other areas of the hospital??? I've never been around nurses like this all grouped together.

After having the experience I had today, I would NEVER want to have my baby in that hospital.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Even though my observation day in L&D took place in 2005, I remember it as if it occurred yesterday. I can recall the tension in the air, the fact that 2 of the nurses on the unit were not getting along with each other, and the snide comments being made about the laboring patients and their family members.

I also recall the miraculously beautiful sight of human life entering this world.

Although I have never worked as a L&D nurse (and probably never will), it is widely known in the medical community as a high-risk specialty. Nurses who work in high-risk units are under far more pressure than average, so we really cannot judge their behaviors until we walk a mile in their shoes.

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Specializes in HomeHealth / geriatrics.

Amen to that !!! my mom is an L&D nurse it is very stressful and a very articulate department bringing life into to the world is not a cake walk!!!!

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High risk and high stress or not, there's no excuse for being rude or condescending to your patients. If you can't do your job and be pleasant to people, you might want to consider another department. The med/surg department at the hospital I am doing clinicals at is much as the OP describe. Yes it is sometimes extremely busy and stressful, but when the nurses cannot work together to help each other out, it just compounds the problem. It just does not have to be the way it is at this hospital. I have one more day of clinicals and I cannot wait to get out of there and graduate. Would I want to work on this unit? Absolutely not.

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are you at a hospital in san diego? haha those nurses there on l&d( in the family birth unit day shift) are lazy and need to retire!!! they scare off all their techs and cnas:heartbeat

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I just wanted to add my :twocents:. I'm a student, but I've volunteered on the OB floor of my local hospital for the last 2 years. When I first started... not one person would talk to me (except for one super nice CNA who remembered me because she was assigned to me after I had one of my babies there). Otherwise, I didn't hear boo from anyone.... especially the nurses.

About a year after I started, the floor that pp was on was being renovated and the entire floor had to move up to a new floor until the OB floor was done. At this point, everyone was super stressed because things weren't where they would normally be, the entire nursery was in a patient sized room, and people were just discombobbled. (is that how you spell it??)

Anyway, during this time, I got to know some of the staff better as I was able to help out a bit more and what not. After we moved back down, the nurses started to recognize me more (mind you... it's been over a year now) and they started to warm up to me... talk to me and learn that I was a student and interested in OB. Each week they would ask me how school was going, what my next step was, what I was interested in, etc.

Now, when I go, they practically attack me asking for help and whatever. It's really nice, because even though I'm just a volunteer, I knew they knew they could trust me to help as much as I could.

I've now been lucky enough to move to a new NICU that was just opened on May 1. And while I'm going to miss all the wonderful people I met in L&D, I'm looking forward to this new unit.

My long winded point is that not all OB units are bad. They might be stressed... but sometimes I think people feel like we are stepping on their territory, and it takes a while before they stop and realize what we are really doing there. We are there for the same reasons they are.

Kind of like the show LOST... you know... the others?? They are "The Others" and we (new students) are the people who's plane crashed on their island and now they feel like we're taking over. They really are just people too... they can be just as nice as the next unit, but they may have their off days too.

As for me... I love L & D nurses. I think they rock!!!

Jennifer

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Thanks for the responses. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that's experienced the cold shoulder in a unit. It just makes me wonder if you can't be friendly to a newcomer to the unit how you might treat your patients.

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I also wanted to add that I was able to see a natural lady partsl childbirth (I even got to hold the mother's leg while she pushed!!!) where the baby was delivered by a midwife. She was amazing, and was the nicest person I talked to that day (and she was from a private practice, not from the hospital). She encouraged me to help and explained things to me.

She even commented to me and the other student that she didn't like the environment there.

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Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

I have seen the same thing in the Labor and Delivery,as a mother and as a student. Never quite made any sense to me all the backbiting and complaining. I have an RN friend who loves L&D, and has done it for about 13 years. Never knew how she could deal with it so long.

I had an old RN after my first child was born and she was a...well you know. She yelled at me and told me to GET OUT OF BED and SIT IN THAT CHAIR! Man the nerve of some people.

Not saying all nurses are this way. Just the ones I have dealt with....

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Specializes in LTC.

I am really sorry to read about the bad nurses. I am also a bit surprised. I have only dealt with L&D as a patient and I had a wonderful experience. As-a-matter-of-fact that is one of the reasons why I wanted to become a nurse and considered working in L&D. Now I don't know how they got along with students or each other for that matter, but they were some of the nicest people I've ever met.

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Brycemom,

I'm so glad to hear that you had a good experience with L&D nurses as a patient. That is the most important thing.

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