Postpartum position as a new grad's first job?

reg06 · Jan 10, 2001

I started out with a new grad position in labor delivery/ postpartum/ antepartum and I am so thankful that I followed my true passion because it is a wonderful area to be in. If it is what you really love to do then follow what you will enjoy. What is it worth to go into an area that you do not even enjoy?

Is there a good orientation program? I think that is also very important. You will need a lot of guidance and training due to the specialized area. I was lucky and had an intense orientation with a mentor as well as over a hundred hours of classes on everything from neonatal resuscitation to eclampsia to breastfeeding basics.

Yes, you would pick up a lot of skills on a med surg floor, yet if your dream is to work in a birth center, many of these skills will not be used on a birth floor, so is it really worth giving up a year or two of your life working in an area you don't feel passionate about?

GO WITH YOUR GUT and follow what you really desire to do. Don't let others opinions infringe on you. I certainly was pressured in nursing school to go into med surg first.

hollykate · Jan 10, 2001

Go For it. When you get a chance to do something you love- you will put so much effort into it and do a better job and learn more. If you go to Med Surg- you will probably be counting the weeks, even tough you can learn a lot. plus, People who have babies actually do have other health problems to assess (contrary to popular opinion!). You will be pressured to go Med Surg. I didn't do it, and am glad I chose otherwise. If the post partum floor occasionally gets overflow women's surgery (oopherectomies, pubolady partsl slings etc) then you will actually be getting some surg experience as well beyond C sections. The stress the first 6 months after becoming a nurse is super high- do something you enjoy- it makes it more tolerable. Good Luck

nurshathaway · Jan 10, 2001

GO FOR IT! I agree with both the other posts, do what you think you will enjoy. You'll have enough to deal with learning this specialty and the stress that it will come with but if you enjoy it, it'll make your nursing experience so much better. You are the one who is going to have to live with your choices, so let them be YOUR choices. Good Luck! I hope to be following in your footsteps in a year or two or three!!!!

puzzler · Jan 10, 2001

Hi Shannon

Glad to have you in this wonderful field of Nursing.

Yes-- you will get a lot of advise to get med/surg experience first (even from me) BUT you have to go with your heart and a postpartal unit can be a wonderful area to work. You will or should get a varied experience there. Pregnant women have all the other problems you can imagine, they are just pregnant in addition to everything else.

Many postpartal units today incorporate the entire pregnancy period with the postpartal patients. If you are lucky you will have prenatal testing, glucose control, work-ups for many, many long term disease processes, transplant patients in for general check ups both pre and post delivery. Then there are those who will need their appendix removed while pregnant (not uncommon,) or they may be having a rough road with a gallbladder problem.

You name it, and there is a pregnant woman somewhere with it.

I was a maternal/child nurse (12 years Labor & Delivery)and loved it.

But most of all, you will not be the best nurse you can be unless you are happy in what you are doing.

Good Luck

------------------

Sheryl

If you enjoy word puzzles come visit me at www.CrosswordsForNurses.com

mustangsheba · Jan 10, 2001

Shannon: If you have been following these posts, you know that I usually recommend doing med/surg first. OB/LD is one of my exceptions. You will indeed be dealing with other disease processes while dealing with Moms. And, as one very wonderful neonatal nurse pointed out to me many years ago "Things happen so much faster in babies, it makes you very good at catching things in adults." Go for this one. Good luck!

ShannonB25 · Jan 10, 2001

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement. Nothing is set in stone yet (with the job, I mean) but there's a good possibility that I will have it after graduation. I think I will follow my heart and work in an area that I will enjoy, like you guys have suggested. I'll keep ya posted!

Shannon

------------------

"The highest reward for man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it."-Johan Ruskin

babs_rn · Jan 12, 2001

Forget med-surg - if you don't like it, don't start your nursing career out on the wrong foot by doing that rotation - you might wind up dropping out altogether. There are too many areas in nursing to have to do that "one year of med-surg" if it doesn't pertain to your area of specialty/interest. Do what you love. The older I get, the stronger I believe in that.

Best of luck.

Babs

MARTRN · Jan 13, 2001

I HAVE WORKED MED SURG FOR1.5 YEARS, AND IT SUCKS.HOWEVER, I HAVE LEARNED MORE THAN I EVER THOUGHT I WOULD. I GRADUATED IN 99 AND WAS THROWN IN AS A CHARGE NURSE IN MED SURG. IT HAS GIVEN ME THE CONFIDENCE THAT I NEED TO MOVE ON. MY NEXT MOVE IS GONNA BE POSTPARTUM. I HAVE HEARD ONLY GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS AREA. GOOD LUCK TO YOU. NO MATTER WHERE YOU START, YOU ARE GONNA BE NERVOUS, BUT THAT IS NORMAL. JUST DO YOUR BEST AND REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED.