Postpartum Nurses-Love it or hate it?

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Hi

I recently accepted a position on a postpartum unit. I originally applied for L&D because I have always wanted to work there but the unit was filled. One of the nurses on my floor suggest that maybe I should start in postpartum to get my feet wet since this is a totally different area.

I just see some comments from nurses who have worked on a postpartum unit, as to whether they like it or not and why.

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Specializes in Postpartum, Lactation.

I think that it would be a good idea to figure out what attracts you to L&D or women's health. I always thought I wanted to be a L&D RN. I went to nursing school and SUFFERED through med/surg no matter how much I hated it just so I could become an L&D RN. Then came my OB clinicals and I was less than wooed. I loved the actual birth and taking care of the babies and helping mom learn to breastfeed but had very little interest in vag exams and FHM strips and everything else. Then...I did my PP clinicals. I knew I found my place. To be honest, it's the babies. In L&D, the parents want to hog the baby and you barely get to have any time with them ;) In PP, half the time they are begging you to rock their baby to sleep.

So, my long answer to your question is yes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job as a PP RN. I would never, ever do L&D. In fact, I will never do any other type of nursing.

You may love it, you may hate it. But the advice you received was correct. PP is a good place to learn a lot about women's health but specifically you will hone your newborn assessment skills which will become invaluable as an L&D RN.

Another factor you may want to consider is you current job. If you are in the ICU, you may find the pace in PP to be a little slower than you are used to.

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The "slower pace" that you mentioned was actually one of the nursing supervisor concerns before offering me the position. I had to let her know that I wasn't settling by any means for postpartum. I have always wanted to do Womens and Child Health. I may love it and never want to try L&D. BTW, I loved the babies too in nursing school :mad: .

I think that it would be a good idea to figure out what attracts you to L&D or women's health. I always thought I wanted to be a L&D RN. I went to nursing school and SUFFERED through med/surg no matter how much I hated it just so I could become an L&D RN. Then came my OB clinicals and I was less than wooed. I loved the actual birth and taking care of the babies and helping mom learn to breastfeed but had very little interest in vag exams and FHM strips and everything else. Then...I did my PP clinicals. I knew I found my place. To be honest, it's the babies. In L&D, the parents want to hog the baby and you barely get to have any time with them ;) In PP, half the time they are begging you to rock their baby to sleep.

So, my long answer to your question is yes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job as a PP RN. I would never, ever do L&D. In fact, I will never do any other type of nursing.

You may love it, you may hate it. But the advice you received was correct. PP is a good place to learn a lot about women's health but specifically you will hone your newborn assessment skills which will become invaluable as an L&D RN.

Another factor you may want to consider is you current job. If you are in the ICU, you may find the pace in PP to be a little slower than you are used to.

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Hello RN Mommy!

Thanks for the info.

I am working as a Med-Surg nurse but really wants to work as a PP nurse. I already applied to the PP floor and I am presently waiting for the HR to respond. You are right, I think PP is slower pace compared to ICU / Med Surg. I really need that :(

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I am putting in for a transfer to PP as well. I have worked ICU and am in the flex pool now. I am tired of staph, tb, poop, 7 patients at a time, and getting yelled at by all the rednecks. I know I may still get yelled at but the patients have got to smell better than my current patients.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Love it!

After 5 years in the NICU (where I started as a new grad) I was hired on an LDRP unit. I first learned mother-baby, then L&D. I was afraid that I'd be bored with PP after the high-tech environment of the NICU. I couldn't have been more wrong. I loved the interaction with new families, teaching, assisting with breastfeeding, etc., and I gained a lot of med-surg skills that I'd never learned in the NICU. After several months, I moved on to L&D orientation, and much to my surprise, I didn't like it. Couldn't wait to get back to PP moms and babies.

I'm out of practice now, but when I return, it will probably be to a mother-baby unit.

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Specializes in Postpartum, Lactation.

And by all means, PP is not "slow" it is just generally less critical. There are many, many days that I do not even get a chance to use the bathroom. It's just that the tasks keeping me very busy are admits , discharges, circs and breastfeeding rather than codes, vents and transfusions. Breastfeeding assistance can be very time consuming-sometimes up to one hour for one feeding. PP is not an area for the disorganized. You really need to manage your time well.

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15 years ago I went from post-open heart tele to mother-baby. I loved it at the time. My kids were little and I felt I could really relate to all of those new moms. The pace was good and it was not horribly stressful for the most part. Now I do LDRP and I LOVE that. I like a bit of excitement, but I felt I had to grow into it. Good luck. Mother-baby is a great area. There's a lot to learn. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. :)

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Hi everyone,

I have just had my second child on March 29th and I absolutely have to say I think I would really like to be Postpartum nurse! Unfortunately, I don't see many jobs for this in my area.

Do you think a person could be a good postpartum nurse with Geriatric experience???

Thanks!

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All of the good assessment skills you build in doing adult nursing will come in handy as well as all of your organization from med-surg/geriatrics. There are many moms now delivering who have chronic medical problems, etc. so you would be a real asset to a postpartum or mother-baby unit.

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Amen to that, RNmommy! I really enjoy my mother/baby job. (We also have high-risk antepartums, an occasional GYN) M/B is not for the disorganized! We normally have 4-5 couplets per nurse, but like was previously mentioned, sometimes you can spend 1 hour in one room with a first time breastfeeder. (Esp. if the baby weighs 10lbs! Anyone else notice that the bigger babies don't tend to have the greatest latch/sucking at first??) I really enjoy what I do, though. We get to meet all kinds of different families and customs, and we get to help them fall in love with their babies. I wish I could take my camera to work and capture all the sweet moments I see between my patients and their babies (dad included!).

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I just wanted to say that reading this thread really helped me. I am a nursing student now and have always wanted to become and L&D nurse, but recently I was thinking that I might want to be a PP nurse instead. This thread really helped me to see that PP is exactly what I am looking to do.

Thanks!!

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