Goldenearring1

Hello all, I work in a Level One Birth Center. We are currently looking to get centralized monitoring. Can anyone recommend any programs, equipment, etc. Thanks, Melissa, RN OB Ohio

Hello Everyone, I am relocating to a different state, I've been a RN for two years. I am about to send in my endorsement papers to my other state (fingerprints and all). My question is when I was first licensed (2003) you did not have to do the fingerprinting in the state which I am currently licensed. In 1993 I wrote some bad checks ( 2 of them went to court the others I paid ) I really can't remember how much they were for maybe $15.00 but that is irrelavant I still made this stupid mistake and I have not been in any trouble since then (young and dumb). I have always marked no on the question where it asks you if you have ever been convicted, but I know for a fact that I was fingerprinted never arrested, do you think I should tell the board that I am applying to and the board in which I am currently licensed. I'm just not sure as to what to do since I am already licensed to begin with. Looking for some good advice. thanks Goldenearring1

Hello OB nurses, I am curious as to what your departments do when census is low. I was on-call all weekend long we had no pts but had an agency nurse who was contract so she was in the department getting paid and I the FT nurse was sitting at home on call ($1.50 hr) :angryfire . The weekend before I was told to float to Med/Surg to be a CNA all weekend long we had no pts (in OB) needless to say I busted my butt while the nurses sat on theirs and treated me like garb. You know I don't mind helping out but not when no one else is doing anything but me and the other CNAs. I am so fed up with this place. I have requested time off and not received it (because I am being punished for taking time off for my brother's death). I am new to this place and don't have time banked to cover my check for times that I am on-call. I would look for another job, but there just isn't anything available. I still don't have my competencies signed off on to L/D because the nurse that was my preceptor is now on maternity leave. For the most part I am the only RN on, with an LPN who is a strong nursery nurse but not L/D, and if census is low then I am by myself with her on-call 30 min away :angryfire ! I wish I could get change in this place. The director quit in Feb they hired a new one she just started two weeks ago I have not met her yet. They have not been able to keep a director for more than a year, the staff basically runs the place with guidance from the CNO which has no L/D experience. Please help me...

Hello everyone, :uhoh21: Well everyone's last pieces of advice were great so I am hoping for more. I am nearing the end of my orientation to L/D, newborn nursery, and Post Partum. I am a NICU nurse so newborn nursery is not going to be a problem, I have had two post op c-sections, I have labored one mom to 7cm and have pushed one mom that was 8cm when I arrived. The paperwork on a laboring pt is unbelievable! Also I have had a fetal demise. I was on-call for 3 days of those 8 weeks of orientation. I have not yet setup a delivery table or taken a pt to a c-section. My manager the third week of my orientation said to me I hope you are a quick learner. IN NO WAY am I competent to be in this department to function on my own. What am I going to say to the doc when he says have you checked her yet, Yea doc I THINK she is 3-4cm/I can't yet tell effacement/ and station is a guess at this point. I don't know what to do, There have been 3 nurses total who have left since NOV. and my preceptor will be going on maternity leave very soon, so I will be there by myself (its been her and I). I will not sign off on the competency and my preceptor is not willing to sign me off either. Does anyone have any advice for me I really like L/D and want to stay there, but man this place is ....... Thanks in advance Goldenearring1

I just wanted to thank everyone for their excellent advice. I had already accepted the job before I posted so right now I am a little stuck. This weekend was very hard for me as we had a IUFD at 35.5 weeks. I have seen alot of neonatal deaths working in the NICU, but this was different it was something I will never forget. The mom had called and said she had not felt the baby move since Fri night sometime (this is now Sunday) and that she was getting the run-around from her doc (our hospital was not the one she was supposed to deliver at) so anyway she came in to our facility and they could not find any fetal heart tones, confirmed with ultrasound that the baby had passed and it had been dead for at least 4 days. The doc came in and did a Cytotec induction. The mom contracted well for a good 4 hours and then the strip went flat. Her call light went on and she said she felt something down there. We were just in there 30min ago and had checked her and there was nothing there no bleeding or anything. I thought to myself Oh no and sure enough the babies head was out, called the doc and he said to do nothing and he would be there in 5 min. It was the longest 5 min. all the mom had to do was lift her leg and the baby was out no signs of life. We laid the baby on the mom and let her grieve, so after a few min you could tell that she was fading and we asked if we could take the baby to clean her up and maybe put something on her that mom had brought from home to take some pictures with the family. We tried cleaning this baby up but every time we wiped her it was just....bad, so I had to take a piece of cardboard to put behind the babies body in between the blankets so the mom would not be able to feel all of the infants bones cracking and popping(sorry).....So I took the infant into mom and dad and let them grieve for her and let the family take pictures. I feel so bad for these parents and family I feel that I am grieving with them. This is not what I wanted from L/D, this is a horrible feeling. Am I wrong to feel like this....somebody out there please advise. I posted this twice so sorry if you are reading this again

I just wanted to thank everyone for their excellent advice. I had already accepted the job before I posted so right now I am a little stuck. This weekend was very hard for me as we had a IUFD at 35.5 weeks. I have seen alot of neonatal deaths working in the NICU, but this was different it was something I will never forget. The mom had called and said she had not felt the baby move since Fri night sometime (this is now Sunday) and that she was getting the run-around from her doc (our hospital was not the one she was supposed to deliver at) so anyway she came in to our facility and they could not find any fetal heart tones, confirmed with ultrasound that the baby had passed and it had been dead for at least 4 days. The doc came in and did a Cytotec induction. The mom contracted well for a good 4 hours and then the strip went flat. Her call light went on and she said she felt something down there. We were just in there 30min ago and had checked her and there was nothing there no bleeding or anything. I thought to myself Oh no and sure enough the babies head was out, called the doc and he said to do nothing and he would be there in 5 min. It was the longest 5 min. all the mom had to do was lift her leg and the baby was out no signs of life. We laid the baby on the mom and let her grieve, so after a few min you could tell that she was fading and we asked if we could take the baby to clean her up and maybe put something on her that mom had brought from home to take some pictures with the family. We tried cleaning this baby up but every time we wiped her it was just....bad, so I had to take a piece of cardboard to put behind the babies body in between the blankets so the mom would not be able to feel all of the infants bones cracking and popping(sorry).....So I took the infant into mom and dad and let them grieve for her and let the family take pictures. I feel so bad for these parents and family I feel that I am grieving with them. This is not what I wanted from L/D, this is a horrible feeling. Am I wrong to feel like this....somebody out there please advise.

what do you mean HCA?

Hoping for some good advice, I recently resigned my position as a Level III NICU nurse to accept a position at a local community hospital as a L/D nurse. They hired a new director and she wants to implement mother/baby care to this unit which means that she wants to get rid of the LPNs and have an all RN staff, she told me that I would have an orientation and that it would be sufficient. When I went in for my first night this weekend I looked at the schedule and was discouraged to find that I am only having 3 weeks of orientation and then be expected to labor and deliver and resus an infant with only one nurse, me. Is this right? I have not had OB experience, I have been exposed but....please help. I really want this job but there is no way that I will be competent enough and I don't want to risk losing my license in 3 weeks. By the way 3 nurses resigned on Fri. Thanks :uhoh21:

Thanks so much for all of your responses, great info. Yes I am on disability and FMLA so in my policy it states that I cannot accept a job while on leave or I can expect to pay all the premiums that they (hospital) paid for me while on leave I don't have any PTO left but I will be accruing when I go back, the questionable part for me is it does not state how long you need to go back for before resigning so I guess I will need to contact HR to find that out, because I sure don't want to be owing them any money in the end. It is nice to hear everyone's perspective. Thanks again, Goldenearring :)

Thanks so much for all of your responses, great info. Yes I am on disability and FMLA so in my policy it states that I cannot accept a job while on leave or I can expect to pay all the premiums that they (hospital) paid for me while on leave I don't have any PTO left but I will be accruing when I go back, the questionable part for me is it does not state how long you need to go back for before resigning so I guess I will need to contact HR to find that out, because I sure don't want to be owing them any money in the end. It is nice to hear everyone's perspective. Thanks again, Goldenearring :)

A Little History.... I have been on leave from my current employer since July due to having a baby, I am currently scheduled to go back to work on the 29th (this week). During my leave I have been searching for another job, because due to the birth of this child my priorities have changed, my employer now will not let me reduce my hours and she has me on a day/night rotation which she won't budge on. I have an offer for another job which is better pay and they will give me what I need (in writing of course). How many weeks notice should I give and how do I approach my director, could I hand in my resignation when I return to work or should I wait, I have not accepted this job offer, yet. Please help...This is my first nursing job that I will be leaving and I want to do this professionally and not burn any bridges. Thanks, Goldenearring1

There is a great article that was just published on www.medscape.com. The article contains a wealth of info and it's easy to read. Ultimately the decision is yours. Good Luck! Type in circumcision in the search engine. Melissa Goldenearring1