Debbie, RN

Our hospital uses the bereavement program guidelines from RTS-Resolve thru Sharing also. This program offers some great training and guidelines. When it comes to bathing a stillborn, esp. those who are a bit macerated and have peeling skin, we bathe them with cotton balls (much gentler) and Baby shampoo so that they smell like "babies" and it can promote a more pleasant bonding experience. We have a wonderful woman who comes to our hospital and helps our patients who are experiencing a fetal demise birth. She calls herself a "doula" for perinatal loss and she is wonderful with the patients and the babies. We are very blessed to have her. She volunteers her services, day or night. She uses a product from Crayola (the crayon-maker) that is called Model Magic. It is sort of a clay product that is very soft and pliable and she forms it into a little pattie of sorts and presses the fetus's feet into it. She places the form in a little pressed cardboard box that is decorated pink or blue with ribbons and such and it dries within 24 hours. She gets them from a local craft store. The patient and family are advised not to press on it until it dries. It is such a nice presentation and such a welcomed keepsake memory for the patient who is experiencing the loss. :heartbeat:heartbeat

I totally agree with the others. This subject came up recently at my workplace when a patient's husband was asking every nurse that entered their room, "How long have you been a nurse?" and "How many years have you been doing Labor and Delivery nursing?" My response was, "If I was a cardiac nurse and never experienced a Heart attack would that mean I don't have the experience or knowledge to care for you?":yeah:

Thanks for all these posts regarding taking ACLS for the first time. I've been an OB Rn for 19 years and never needed to know cardiac rhythms (although we do recover our own patients after C-Sections), all we ever see is healthy hearts. I'm now trying a change and working prn at an Ambulatory Surg center where ACLS is required. Thanks for the study tips. I'm also very afraid of failing but I'll be sure to study the algorythms and the meds. Please Wish me luck!

:rotfl: Okay, this is a strange one. I had a pt. tell me once when she was getting a labor check that "We caused this",assuming this meant that she and her mate had intercourse before coming to the hospital; I responded with a sly grin on my face. She replied "Oh No, we didn't have sex!, we ate salad with balsalmic vinegar on it!" Now that has got to be the best I've ever heard in 16 years of L&D practice. :chuckle

Yes, I like to think of "getting written up" as a learning tool instead of something to be used as punitive. I have indeed written myself up for errors - hoping that including myself, my co-workers could learn from my mistake. Unfortunately, it was not used in that way. Management thought we were writing up too many, so the variance reports stopped. Now mistakes just happen and unless its a grave one, it just gets slid under the carpet so to speak. So sad.....

I work in a 12 bed, Level 1, LDRP unit. We always staff with a minimum of 3 RN's, and one OB scrub tech/secretary on Night shift, regardless of the census. Our "core" staff is 3 RN's. Since we are a level one, we do primarily low risk cases but occasionally we will have a preterm delivery "drop in" when she is too far dilated to ship out to the nearby level 3 hospital. Then we end up shipping the baby out post partum. We do have mandatory call off or canceling of even our regular staff (not pool) when the census is low. The staff has the option of "floating" to another area of the hospital but they usually opt to stay home. Staff are required to sign up for two 12 hour call shifts per month. We do about 80 deliveries a month on average. Your most has enlightened me - I thought the staffing in our unit was sometimes low. I now think otherwise. How do you keep nurses on staff there?? Do you have travelers?

Melissa, A good reference to have is entitled "Drugs in pregnancy and lactation" Don't know the author offhand (sorry). It should be fairly easy to find. Its a great book for drugs in pregnancy, during labor, and especially with lactating women. I've used it several times. Good luck in your new specialty.