joeb1

You will have no problems as long as you are passionate and sincere. I started out as an Inpatient Peds RN, and loved it. Then I worked Labor and Delivery, and Nursery. I eneded up working a dedicated Pediatric ER in an adult trauma center. As a male, you just have to respect what others feel is comfortable. I can count on one hand in the 3 years in OB that I have had a patient decline to let me care for them.(of course we tried to make sure the shift before, who made out the assignments, talked to the patient first so I wouldn't just appear in the room while the patient was in stirrups, etc.) I never have regretted my specialty and am glad I never worried too much about working in what people may percieve as a predominately women's specialty. Go for it!

My wife watches General Hospital...if you want a good laugh, watch some of that.(although I don't recommend it because I hate that show).

I would guess that as they were not even registered and assuming they were not suicidal and you knew about it, I would say it is there right to make the decision to seek treatment elsewhere. If they decided thus, I think the only people who could be considered negligent is the family for not wanting to wait.

I carry my stethescope, hemostats with tape, reference cheat sheet I made with doses etc. and a 16 and 20 gauge angiocath just in case....used to have shears but after losing 4 pair in six months I've decided it isn't worth it...we have otoscope/opthalmoscopes at the head of each bedso no pen lights thankfully.

Ok, the crocs i used to wear were great, but the style has been replaced by the Specialist model, and they just don't look the greatest to me. They would wear smooth on the bottoms after a year or so, not bad for 30-40 dollar shoes. They were pretty comfortable, at least to my feet. Also have dansko professionals, and they just feel huge, and at over 110 dollars, they already show some wear after 6 months of use. My opinion for the best, if they are still around, is Keen shoes, bandon model. Very comfortable, easy to clean. And you can't go wrong with a pair of super Birki's.

We actually had Neonatologists walk off with the Littmans we kept at cribside in the nursery I worked at....They all had their own and always returned them. The one doc returned 6 of them one time. I do know that they like to walk, so do watch a good stethescope like a hawk....Really good advice.

I work in a Pediatric ER where I start 5-10 babies/toddlers every shift, and our docs always want blood drawn with starts. The way we found to not hemolyze or affect our samples, and keep in mind we usually only draw cbc/bmp/crp/cultures, is to start an IV, no matter what size, put pressure on the vein, and place the tube directly under the catheter hub, allowing the sample to drip carefully into the tube. Then we get the culture by using a sterile syringe for that small amount of blood. A benefit is the vein bleeds at its own rate, and I find they stay patent much more often than when using vacutainers or syringing out all the blood. It coud make it messy if you don't have everything ready, but I've gotten used to it this way. ANd lab has never had a problem with this.

I have always used a Littman classic II Pedi stethescope. The Nursery I worked in had inant and pedi sizes, but unless extremely preterm, the pedi scope was always sized ok, In fact, our neonatologists used the pedi instead of infant scopes. Either way, Littman in my experience has been very durable and with great sound quality. They aren't the cheapest you could find, but is an investment that will last years.(4 years on mine so far).

I have an associates rn degree. I started out of school on a small hospital's general peds unit-think 1-6 patients at a time. I then went to OB/Nursery, to work as we were supposed to get a level 2 nursery. Well, 2 years later, no nursery and I'm doing mostly labor and delivery. I have 2 weeks left, then I start in a bigger hospital, same town, doing their peds ER. I guess I am still a kid at heart. Besides, how often do adult nursing jobs allow you to play?

Another male nurse here working OB. I have been in L/D nd nursery for 2 years now and can count on one hand the times problems have come up requiring a need to switch assignments. There will be those time, just so you know, but that cannot dicourage you. Currently I am doing Labor patients, but am looking to go to a larger facility with level 2 nursery capabilities-my true love. That is the best of both worlds for me, attending deliveries and doing neonatal care. My coworkers have been great and there are often times just me and one other nurse, so they don't look at me differently. Go for it! I like evey part of the job, except the breastfeeding part-never did master it! Just curious, where do you other male Ob RNs work, as far as what type/level facility? Just a small community hospital with approx. 700 deliveries yearly here.

In my hospital, which is a small city hospital with private docs and not a teaching hospital, I have found the following to be true of our docs. The OB docs in general seem to be very easy going towards the staff, most not getting upset with dilation/effacement exams as long as they feel you are competent to begin with. Most wee very kind when I stated as a new nurse, teaching me what they want, patiently most of the time. Our neos are not always so great, and really do like to eat new nurses alive. But my background was peds so I worked with the same neos for a couple years, and once you are in with them, they are a piece of cake. I think the peds/neo guys seem alot more uptight, but they are used to rounding and getting out in 1-3hrs. (at our hospital, whch is only well-baby) The OBs are the ones who will be in 4 times a iht if they have to be, so they are used to sitting and talking and being cordial with us as they pass their time. That being said, they do like to get down to business when they can and don't hang around if they don't need to, as they all have office hours too. I have seen them call home and tell wives/husbands that they would nt be home and wil camp out in an empty suite if a patient may need them. Lastly, our midwife that we have is excellent, and sits at the bedside with nearly all of her patients from 8-9 cm on.

We are lucky as the hospital provides and launders our scrubs. For the women, they wear ceil blue or navy pants, and a white top with foot prints in pink and baby blue. As the lone guy, they thankfully let me wear the all navy scrubs our docs and or team wears. Our uniforms, aside from mine, are all identical for the reason of infant security. It is very nice to be able to throw out our soiled clothes and get new ones, and not worry about bringing home someone's amniotic fluid....Which shouldn't be an issue with universal precautions but we all know how it smetimes goes. I think darker colors are always nice, and black pants go with nearly everything.

Ok, I know this is probably a decision that will need to be more about what I want more than anything. I have as an RN a couple years in Pediatrics and a couple years in Labor/delivery/nursery. NNP's, most of you probably work in hospitals, am I correct? Where do the PNP's here work? Another question is the competitiveness of the programs as far as which has more schools, potential for employment, etc.? I also am curious about the autonomy of one versus the other. Lastly, and this is probably my least concerning question as job satisfaction far outweighs monetary satisfaction, what is generally the difference between NNP's and PNP's? Obviously this varies greatly but I was wanting just a very generic outlook. Thank you very much.

:hbsmiley:Thanks to all. Jackson Samuel was born Wednesday June 11th at 13:13. 8#4oz, and everything has gone well. I was nervous, as my coworkers who took care of us that day said I would not quit pacing. The doctor let me "catch" the baby in OR, so I can say I held him first. Only thing was that the breast feeding didn't work(she just wasn't into it). And our doc never made rounds on her post op day #1, but everything turned out awesome. I even got to have one OB nurse photograph everything, and another did the whole section on video.(the one nurse was there when I was born, and was there when my wife was born too! Talk about full circle. Thanks again to all.Here's the lil ball of fur.(obviously the date on pic is wrong)

Well, tommorrow at 1230 my wife will go in to have a primary c/s due to our little guys habit of trying to land feet first. Those who have been here before, you know how this feels. I have been an ob nurse for 1.5 years now, and I am very excited. But being an ob nurse is perhaps making me more nervous than most new dads. I wish I could only worry about the thought of taking care of a newborn and not knowing what I wouldn't know, but I can't help think of some of the bad experiences. How, can I ask, have you ob nurses who have been in the biz before having your own kids, deal with these thoughts? It's bad enough being worried about my wife, I cannot imagine if I was the one having the surgery. I know it'll all be okay, and if nothing else, my wife is probably less nervous than some primips because I can answer her concerns. Oh, what a feeling! Thanks all!