Post Partum

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Hello,

Im a current nursing student and I have a question for people who work in the post partum unit.

What it a leisure day for you? What it is a work day for you? please help me this is for an a assignment that i have to turn in so any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks.

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LOL I don't really understand the question! Leisure as in a day off? And what do you mean what is a work day??? Can you be more specific as to what you are looking for?

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LOL I don't really understand the question! Leisure as in a day off? And what do you mean what is a work day??? Can you be more specific as to what you are looking for?

What is your work day like from the time you clock in to the time you clock out is what i meant to ask sorry for the confusion.

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OK . . . well I work nights. When I clock in I spend about 30 minutes getting report on my patients - when they delivered, what meds they have had/need, anything I need to know about them. When I work 7-11P we have the babies too from 7-11, after 11P we have just the moms (but more of them). So I might check on the babies status too, anything I need to know about them - when they last ate, if they have labs due, etc. I prioritize the patients based on anything special, plus when they delivered and type of delivery. Then I start going around for assessments. Personally I do the assessment and chart it immediately, some do all the assessments and then go back to chart. If there's nothing unusual and the patient doesn't need anything I can generally do an assessment & get the charting done in about 15 min per patient. Often the patient will ask for pain meds or something and that will take longer. If I have the babies I will first check in the nursery for the baby to see when the baby needs to eat and if it needs vitals done, otherwise I will check the baby at the same time as the mom if it is in the room. I will see when the baby ate & how much and tell the mom when the baby needs to eat again. Between 10-11 I will do rounds again, check baby feedings and ask the mom what she wants to do with the baby for the night. Then I give the report sheets to the nursery nurses for the night. At 11 I will be picking up more moms so I repeat the process of assessments and charting. Of course at any time during this process I might get an admission. For an admission I do an initial set of vitals and assessment, and spend time with the patient orienting them to the unit and the room and the hospital stuff. For a vag I repeat the assessment and vitals in an hour, for a section I repeat every hour for 4 hrs. Also at all times I respond to call bells - mostly for pain meds but also supplies like pads, blankets, water, snacks, whatever . . . we always help vag deliveries up to the bathroom the first time and measure the urine. We help moms with breastfeeding. C sections also have IV fluids to keep up with and we monitor the PCE meds closely along with VS, they also often have antibiotics to hang. Once things quiet down at nights and all assessments & charting is done we do chart checks at night. Go through to make sure no orders were missed and get the MARS for the next day and check those against the orders also. When the morning comes patients usually start waking up and asking for pain meds again, and we also pull the foleys from the sections, get fasting blood sugars when we need them, and I go over my charting one more time before day shift arrives. If there are only a few patients I can end up with some down time but generally I stay busy.

Hope this helps!

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OK . . . well I work nights. When I clock in I spend about 30 minutes getting report on my patients - when they delivered, what meds they have had/need, anything I need to know about them. When I work 7-11P we have the babies too from 7-11, after 11P we have just the moms (but more of them). So I might check on the babies status too, anything I need to know about them - when they last ate, if they have labs due, etc. I prioritize the patients based on anything special, plus when they delivered and type of delivery. Then I start going around for assessments. Personally I do the assessment and chart it immediately, some do all the assessments and then go back to chart. If there's nothing unusual and the patient doesn't need anything I can generally do an assessment & get the charting done in about 15 min per patient. Often the patient will ask for pain meds or something and that will take longer. If I have the babies I will first check in the nursery for the baby to see when the baby needs to eat and if it needs vitals done, otherwise I will check the baby at the same time as the mom if it is in the room. I will see when the baby ate & how much and tell the mom when the baby needs to eat again. Between 10-11 I will do rounds again, check baby feedings and ask the mom what she wants to do with the baby for the night. Then I give the report sheets to the nursery nurses for the night. At 11 I will be picking up more moms so I repeat the process of assessments and charting. Of course at any time during this process I might get an admission. For an admission I do an initial set of vitals and assessment, and spend time with the patient orienting them to the unit and the room and the hospital stuff. For a vag I repeat the assessment and vitals in an hour, for a section I repeat every hour for 4 hrs. Also at all times I respond to call bells - mostly for pain meds but also supplies like pads, blankets, water, snacks, whatever . . . we always help vag deliveries up to the bathroom the first time and measure the urine. We help moms with breastfeeding. C sections also have IV fluids to keep up with and we monitor the PCE meds closely along with VS, they also often have antibiotics to hang. Once things quiet down at nights and all assessments & charting is done we do chart checks at night. Go through to make sure no orders were missed and get the MARS for the next day and check those against the orders also. When the morning comes patients usually start waking up and asking for pain meds again, and we also pull the foleys from the sections, get fasting blood sugars when we need them, and I go over my charting one more time before day shift arrives. If there are only a few patients I can end up with some down time but generally I stay busy.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your help i really appreciate you answering my question.i do have to say that does sound like a nursing career that i would be really love to have and honestly would enjoy so how many patients do u have per shift? and how long have you been a nurse for post partum?

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I'm pretty much a new grad, been working since August. I work postpartum and nursery. In postpartum we have 5 couplets or up to 10 moms, but that's never happened, up to 8 is more common. I do enjoy it.

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