freedom4

I am a very visual learner, and I just couldn't get cervical exams. Then one time I was at the nurses station and someone had brought out a model of a female parts complete with cervix and interchangable stages of dialation. That is all it took. Once I seen what I was looking for I was able to find the cervix. See if you department has one of these. It really makes sense once you see it.

I didn't become an RN until 40, so the question is how much longer can I wait. There is a NICU a 1/2 hour away, but I haven't seen openings in the NICU for 4 years. I have been looking and even wrote a letter to the HR representative how interested I was in a NICU position. I feel like I have been putting off my life since I married almost 19 years ago. I have always told my children that if you do what you love you never have to work a day in your life. Not really setting a good example right now.

rnpic thanks so much for the advice. Yes I am working one of those crappy jobs now. It is really a good place to work, but not what I want to be doing. I feel like I am a glorified (and not very glorified) secretary. I have thought about it for awhile now and if I do get a offer I am going to jump on the opporunity. I pray I can make it work out. Thanks

I have made some stupid decisions in my short career as a nurse. I graduated in 2007. I initially started out in Labor and Delivery. I told the nurse manager upon starting that I really wanted to work in the nursery, but they were short and needed me in labor delivery more. I really like L/D, but my favorite days at work were those days that I got to spend working in the nursery. I truly for the 1st time in my life I could say that I loved my job. I went to nursing school to be in OB. The problem is that for many reasons I quit OB. It was the hardest decision I had ever made. I cried because I knew it was wrong. Mainly the reason I quit was do to big problems at home, but now that problem is no longer in my life. He hated me working nights, and hated me working weekends. I have been away from L/D for over a year. My life is my own, and I realize more now then ever what I should be doing with my career. I want to be in the NICU. I am at a dead end nurses job now not even in a hospital. Here is my dilemma. The only NICU that is hiring is almost 1 to 1 1/2 hours away. I really can't move right now. I have applied and I am seriously thinking about taking this position if it is offered. Am I nuts for commuting 2-3 hours a day for my dream job? OK fellow nurses I need your honest opinion. I guess I should include the fact that I am a single mom with 3 kids 18, 14, and 12 and it is night shift of course.

Checking with US would be a great idea, but we are no longer allowed to do us in our department unless you are a Dr. There are a few nurses that have been around for a long time that still do ultra sound, but I was taught that only a doctor should be scanning.

Our unit has way to many people that want to be electively induced, so many of our Docs will go along with them after 38 weeks. Lately it seems that many of our Docs are using Cytotec more and more, but many of them just start right on Pitocin. Our protocol is that before we start Pitocin that we check to see if the baby is head down. We are not supposed to start the Pit until confirmed, so we really have to try to access the cervix. When I first started I asked the other labor nurses what am I suppossed to do I can't get to the cervix because it is to high. It is unspoken policy if the Dr. orders Pit we do Pit. It is a surprise (sarcasm) that our unit has a extremely high section rate.

I started as a new grad last year in Labor/Postpartum. I started off in Postpartum (I am glad) to learn the lay of the land, and to build up my skills. 4-5 months after I started when I was comfortable with postpartum then they started my labor training. They hired 4 new grads last year. Our unit is the biggest in the hospital and we average around 150 births a month. I am glad I went right into the position that I always wanted. I am not a young graduate a mom of 3, so having 3 births and breastfeeding 3 babies really did help when it came to the education part of the job. I love teaching so it was nice to have something that you already felt comfortable with as a new grad.

Anytime I can't get to the cervix I do what gemininurse 71 does and I put my patient on the bedpan. I also lower the head of the bed so the head is flat or slightly lower. It really does make a difference.

Hello I am a 3rd shifter. We have the crazy nights and the nights that make me love 3rd shift. In my unit we either work L&D and postpartum, or Peds/Nursery and Postpartum. I am a L&D nurse. 10:45-11:45 or possible 12 or later. Depending on how busy we are. We get report on all the postpartum patients and babies. Everyone gets report incase it gets busy and Labor nurses have to go to labor. We can just give updates to who is taking over. The next 1 to 1 1/2 hours (depends) we spend doing mom assessments. I check the need for meds, answer any questions. offer advise. I really thought that nights would be slow, but so many patients don't sleep (with new babies) that nights are quiet (no company). That many people feel they can ask questions that they didn't feel comfortable asking with everyone around. I try to chart moms assessments once I am done. I also gather up the babes and get them to the nursery for their assessments. Hopefully we have a tech on that has started vitals, but lately that hasn't been the case. We also do weights at nights. We do assessments, weigh, vitals. We also do bilichecks at night. We then do the needed bloodwork if necessary. Serum bilis, PkU, Dextrose. Then I try to chart on the babes. We really encourage our moms to enjoy the chance to sleep and most babies are kept in the nursery. We then spend the rest of the night taking babies out to feed (or feeding babies that are to be fed in) answering call lights, checking on post-op patients. Lot of time I have a baby in my arms while I chart. A feed in or a cranky one that wants to feed constantly just trying to hold it so mom can get some extra sleep. This is also the time that we can laugh and joke with other nurses. I want days but I will miss these times alot if I go to days. All of our 1st day moms usually have blood work so usually sometime after 3 we do blood draws. Any day one sections I also try to get them up and have them walk to the bthrm. We use duramorphs so all the moms on that have to have resp. checks Q hour that needs to be charted. WE also need to check all the charts with the computer to see if our meds are correct. Need to have all I&O's in by 5 so it will print off for baby's Dr. At times Docs come in early and we assist with circs. Since I am in L&D many times I get called to help if I didn't start back in labor. I could go and admit a patient or help while a delivery is going on an then I go back to floor. We then give report to the charge nurse and watch the floor so she can give the hour of more report. That about sums up a night in postpartum for me.

I read everything I can get my hands on about labor. I learn alot right here on this site. 2 nights ago I finally had another delivery (yeah). Went off without a hitch, but I had another nurse peek in on me often. I really felt more comfortable knowing that she was was a call away. Last night I had another Mag patient and then a patient came in with crappy fetal heart tones. She ended up with a section. Our unit is really busy and right now we our short on 11-7 so moving to another shift is out of the question. I guess I can say if things keep up like they are (complete chaos at times) I will be getting my share of deliverys. Luckily I work with a great group of people that are always helpful, and always watching my back. Thanks for the advice

I am a new grad this past summer. New to being an RN worked as a CNA for years. I just started orienting to Labor and Delivery about 3 months ago. We had over 180 deliveries in our hospital last month, but I am not getting any of them. To this date I have had one by myself, but had a fellow nurse in the room, because I didn't feel comfortable. In my 3 months training I have only attended about 5 deliveries, mainly because the 1st couple months everyone I touched turned into a section-including the day I had 2 abruptions in one day. I seem to be taking a lot of care of laboring patients, but never there for main event. It has now been about a month since my last delivery, and the other night I had 2 patients. My patient was complete and I had people double check me several times, because I feel like if I can see the head it is time to call the Dr. I had called the Dr the patient was a push or 2 away from delivery, and my other patient a Mag patient had extreme levels come back and I had to leave the room and call the DR. (left this patient with another RN for 5 minutes, and then heard a baby crying). The problem is that because I haven't had any delivers on my own. The more time that passes the more scared I get about having one. I know that experience is the only thing that is going to help this situation. At our hospital it seems that majority of our patients are either induced or section for the convenience of the Doctors in day time hours. I work 11-7. How many deliveries until you feel comfortable with what you are doing?

We have CNA working in our nursery. THey do vitals, feed and basically take care of the babies in the nursery. Some of the better ones will help take babies out if it is feeding time. I work 11-7 and all of our assessments are done in the nursery, so not to keep parents awake. Rn's do the blood work, TCB's and antibodics if needed. They also help us by ordering labs. WE also have LpN's in postpartum and they are assigned to mom and baby. They are responsible, same as RN's in postpartum.

I now wish I would of commented in the card about this beautiful boy and his full head of dark hair. I was signing this card when I was talking to another nurse, and asked her opinion about writing about him personally. I didn't write anything personal about him because she thought I shouldn't. I have had a 2nd trimester miscarriage myself. I have saved everything that was involved with that pregnancy to have something tangible to hold on to. Ultrasound pictures, a few congrats cards, and an outfit that my oldest daughter picked up. It was important to me for my child to be remembered even though he never lived.

Last night at work was a day from *&^(. I had a patient come in and she was in very active labor. This was her 4th child and we knew that labor was something she was familiar with. I got her on the toco an then started looking for heart tones, and couldn't find them. I just started in labor 2-3 months ago, so I thought maybe it was my inexperience. Though the lady was pretty small, and I couldn't quite figure out what the problem was. The thought never occurred to me that maybe there were no heart tones. A co-worker came in and told me to go lower. She didn't realize that I started lower, and had been looking for 10 minutes. Well to make a long story short the lady delivered a stillborn beautiful baby boy at 40 weeks gestation about 1/2 hour later. She came in a week before this with braxton hicks and the baby's Fetal heart tones looked great. They were passing a card around for us to sign for the patient, and I want to say something from the heart about how truly sorry I am. I also want to say something about how beautiful the baby was. Does anyone have any words of advice or poems that they put on cards. I have had a few demises lately and everyone always states pretty much the same thing. "I am sorry for your loss, and my thoughts and prayers are with you" Thanks for any advice.

I started nights on my unit about 2 months ago. I was concerned about it being very slow, and I wondered how much interaction I would actually get with the patients. I have also worked nights before (as a CNA in a nursing home), and I knew if it was slow I would have trouble staying awake. I have to say that I was worried for no reason. Nights are very busy. I can't believe how fast my 8 hour shift goes. We do TCB's at night and we also draw all of our own labs on moms and babies. I love the time in the nursery at nights, because the staff can talk while we are caring for the babies. It is a quiet time and we keep alot of babies in the nursery overnight, so we get to care for the youngsters. (my favorite perk) We don't have all the visitors and all the chaos that days sometimes have. I feel like at nights I have alot of heart to hearts with moms, because there is no one else there (maybe FOB sound asleep in cot next to them), and it is a quiet time and they feel free to ask questions. I worked days for orientation, and we are far busier at nights. I went into nights figuring I would make the best of it until I could get on day shift, but now have no desire to switch to days. I enjoy working with my co-workers, and nights is a very close knit group. I was very surprised at how well it works with family life.