Small community hospitals are sometimes scary places for L&D nurses to work. At the one where I FORMERLY worked, 1 OB nurse was required to be in-house at all times. If OB was closed, she was required to work med-surg or ER. A 2nd OB nurse was on-call and had to respond within 30 minutes. No in-house OB doc and the 1 CRNA on staff lives 45 minutes away. If there was a laboring pt. at night or on a week-end, 1 nurse was there - nobody else in the unit! Talk about scary and unsafe! Of course day shift during the week had the dept. manager and other ancillary staff available. At night the nurses also cleaned the room after delivery - no housekeeping staff available at night! And they wonder why they can't keep nurses?!?! Placing a mom and baby's life at risk all in the name of the almighty dollar.........