labordude has 14 years experience as a BSN, RN and specializes in L&D, OBED, NICU, Lactation.
Hi Labordude,
I am Croaker, a graduate male nursing student attempting to get hired into L&D.
I had no interest in OB nursing at all until my 4th semester of school, when I start my OB rotation and decided I wanted to pursue it, so by the Lord's grace and providence I applied to precept in L&D and got to precept at an OB-ED(which my school has never been offered a preceptor slot for, and which I had the honor and privilege of also the first male to ever precept there or at any of the OB Units that I am aware of) and absolutely loved it. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of skills to practice, the relationships you get to build with patients, and the overall sense of making a difference in mommy/baby's life.
Anywho, considering your background, would you have any advice how to best prepare to work in L&D(classes to take/certs/tips for success)? I am set to shadow with the hospital I want to work in next week(no interviews yet!), and I am stoked that they provided this opportunity to me.
Sincerely,
Croaker, BSN
Congrats my dude!
Welcome to the fold and it's a great place to be. Seriously, men can thrive in OB. Also, OBED is one of my favorite areas to work, the pace, the critical thinking, I love all of it. I would say you ABSOLUTELY need to take AWHONN's Intro to Fetal Monitoring course (online) https://www.awhonn.org/general/custom.asp?page=IntroOnlineCourse
Get a copy of Lisa Miller's Pocket Guide https://www.amazon.com/Mosbys-Pocket-Guide-Fetal-Monitoring/dp/0323401570/
They will get you NRP certified and depending on the facility, ACLS (which I would highly recommend to the point where if they don't require it, do it anyway).
But most importantly try to experience all areas of OB including antepartum, L&D, and postpartum. Normally in a new graduate orientation, you get time in all the areas. Within OB there are sub-specialties that you can learn like lactation, scrubbing in the OR (to assist the OB), or nursery/special care/NICU. From a new grad, I want someone I can work with and train. As long as you come across as interested and teachable, you'll be a curiosity for a little bit but that goes away and you will shine.
All of that is important, but being a guy requires a little more finesse which you clearly demonstrate otherwise you wouldn't have gotten this far. I usually walk into a room like I own the place and then sit down. Would highly recommend you spend more time at OR BELOW eye level with your patients as it truly minimizes the power dynamic. Always explain everything to the patient and make sure they are okay to proceed. Some guys have their own family stories or birth stories from their kids and it's totally cool to relate to these with families. Building quick rapport with the staff and patients/families is an important skill.
You've got this!
Thanks man!! I appreciate the wisdom Being 6'5", I totally see how my patients are a bit more comfortable when I am at eye level haha, and I plan to get ACLS as soon as I have the cash along with anything else I can find to help me in my goals in OB/
It has been an interesting few days for sure, with a bit of confusion on what area to work in first! *que story time*
I went and shadowed for two days on L&D at the hospital with the OBED I precepted at, and the nurse educator called me into her office on the second day, and we chatted about my long-term goals, and she thinks considering I still am interested in ER and mission's work that I apply for the same hospital's level I trauma center. She thinks I would could do wonders down there with my obstetrics background as I am comfortable dealing with OB emergencies.
So I took her advice, and looked up the spot she spoke on. Low and behold, the ER spot was gone, but five spots were open in another smaller community hospital's L&D/Post-partum that I also precepted in
(Long story; since there are currently no male nurses working in L&D in a 50 mile radius of the nursing school I graduated from and the fact my OB instructors weren't sure if the larger hospital I was precepting at in the OBED would take to me, and my preceptor didn't know anyone who she thought was willing to precept me and I wanted to do L&D before making a decision on to pursue the specialty(since 10 hours in clinicals is a lil' bit too short for my tastes!), my OB instructors arranged for me to precept at another hospital, but I just happened to send an email to my friend at this community hospital, who then forwarded it to the nurse manager of L&D, who thought my email was so fantastic she contacted my instructors and arranged to let me precept there. The original plan was to precept there after my OBED time ended for additional hours, but the nurse manager/educator thought I was coming immediatelym soThe chaos that ensured from her wanting me to basically start immediately was a bit trying since it was awkward on my OB instructor as it was like "where's our student!?!?", and I ended up talking to my OB instructors and the course manager of precepting for the CON, and I finally decided to cut my time at the OBED short and start at the community hospital in L&D. Despite the craziness for a bit, my instructors were both very proud of me for honoring my commitments, and everything worked out swell, and I uniquely had the privilege of having of two preceptor ship's in my nursing class haha!)
Anyway, I shot the nurse manager there an email and she seemed very excited I contacted her(since she has actually WANTED a male RN in L&D for a long time but they had no positions available at the time to offer any of the preceptees) so she is going to call me this week and schedule an interview.
I then went today and delivered thank you cards to the two nurses I shadowed and the educator/manager at the larger hospital, also mentioning I intend to work there in the future(Because they have the OBED woot woot).
So yeah, it's been an interesting few days!
Anywho, you can pray that the Lord would give me discernment in choosing where to work, and he would put me exactly where I need to be so I can use my passion for OB to serve others!:)
I will keep ya posted on where I end up haha!
Good luck to you brother!
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