elleRN

I have worked L&D in 3 differnt facilities and it is hospital policy that all family members leave the room for epi placement. how can you trust that him or her wont pass out, or cause trouble. i would never let someone else hold the pt, what if they jumped or moved the pt and something happened. I like this policy and I've never come across a patient and s/o who didn't understand the reasons for stepping out, and put up resistence.

hi everyone, recently moved to mass from nyc. took two jobs, one FT one per diem. started per diem job this week. was informed in interview that nurses at this facility belonged to the union. I find out today at day two of orientation, that I am required to pay $325 - $375 per year, depending on whether I want voting priveledges or not. I don't feel that the cost - benefit ratio really applies to me. I will be there at most 3 shifts per month. And I don't plan on staying very long. Just to make some extra money while adjusting to the move costs etc. Is there anyway out of this dues paying? it was presented as mandatory. And the price is the same for RN's, whether you are full time or per diem. My full time facility does not participate in a nurses union. any advice is greatly appreciated!!! thanks

I recently relocated to the Boston, MA area and I am going on interviews at hospitals within a 40 mile redius of Boston. Today was my first day of interviews, and one of the hospitals north of Boston near the new hampshire border does not use central monitoring. it is a community hospital, and they say the ratio is 1:1. is this the norm, that there be no central monitoring? I come from the new york city and I have never heard of this. even if you are 1:1 what happens when you go to the bathroom and your patient in the meantime is deceling and your co workers at the nurses station don't know because there is no monitor at the desk ringing that something is wrong? The job itself seems great, but I am very uneasy with the monitoring. Give me your input please!!

How many of you belong to a professional organization? And is it worthwhile to join? I have been looking in to one and considering my options. Thanks for the advice!

Hi Everyone!!! I am going to be relocating to the Boston area in January. Will be taking a job through a travel agency I used to work for. I am able to ask them to look in to hospitals I want. So I need some insight from all of you on which hospitals are the best to work at in labor and delivery. I will be moving from NYC, and I currently work at a great community hospital in northen NJ which does 3,800 deliveries a year, in what I consider to be a birth center/family oriented unit. We have residents but they are not there for normal routine things so we have a lot of independence and total care of the patient. I am looking for a situation similar to this out in Massachusetts. Look forward to hearing from you!

baby gets footprinted and we hand decorate it and give to the parents. we don't keep footprints. baby gets two ID bands and a cord clamp, the clamp also has an alarm box attached to it. mom and dad each get a band as well. all bands and clamp have the same numbers. cord blood goes to the bank for typing but I'm not sure if it is saved, I doubt it.

the labor and delivery in my pocket is nice and small and a good reference. it really helped me as a new L&D nurse

we are so laxed on obtaining consent for epidural. the anesthesiologist always explains the procedure and takes questions, but only a few of them get a consent signed, and some don't even do it all the time. it is not the nurse's responsibility to get the consent. some patients never consent for anything. some doctors require consent for a nsvd which they usually obtain a signature for after the birth. consents are always done for c sections.

wow, all we are given is a lap moist with normal saline from the scrub tech or nurse. we take it with a sterile glove, and use the scrub solution straight from the bottle. some nurses scrub the incision area and then do the circular motion from the umbilicus out. some just do the incision area and then work up just going back and forth. but we only have that one lap to do it.

was never properly taught how to do the sterile prep of abdomen while patient is on the table for c section. it is not always done, only if the doctor requests a scrub before the paint prep which they do. i have asked several of the nurses i work with and watched some and not one of them does the same thing. what do you recommend?

i frequently do a svd on my own as an rn, if it isn't too busy on the unit, a second rn usually comes in to help out that first few mintues. otherwise it is really hectic running back and forth from the baby to the mom. the ob is attending to the mom, repairing epis etc, while i am tending to the baby, then i run to hang the pit and get sutures in between. it is essential to have everything prepared and within arm's reach before the actual delivery. plus we always hit the call bell if we need help and another rn will then come in to see what is needed. so far it all works out well. if there are forseen problems with delivery, peds team is always called to be present for delivery, whether it be mec or vaccum assisted etc. as for c sections, there is the scrub nurse and the circulator, in addition all c sections require the peds team to be present. they tend to the baby. depending on situation, peds team has either a mother baby rn or a nicu rn, a peds resident, and either a neonatal np or pa. that system works out great.

I am brand new to L&D on orientation with 2 great preceptors. There is no standard protocol for pit administration after delivery. I asked how they knew how much pit to give considering I did not see an order in the chart nor did I hear an MD order it. One preceptor routinely gives 20 miliunits in 1 liter LR x 2 for all her deliveries. There is a protocol for administering pit for induction or augmentation that requires 30 miliunits in 500 ml of LR. My other preceptor simply leaves that 500 ml bag on after delivery. There is obviously no standard in this. As a new L&D nurse I am a little confused as to what do when on my own. When I questioned the preceptor who runs the 2 liters about it she asked the nurse on charge that day who said it's just something you routinely do and know, this nurse obviously practiced the 2 liter rule as well. I plan on asking the CNS on our floor if there is a documented protocol, but I just wanted to run this by you guys first and see what is standard in your institutions. Thanks!!

Are any of you certified childbirth educators?? If so what is the best organization to get certified through?? Do you recommend obtaining this certification?? I am a RN, BSN, applying to a MSN midwifery program to start Jan 2003. Would appreciate your input!! Thanks!!:roll :roll :roll

One hospital gave a medication test prior to interviewing me. They said it was policy. I had to sit in the waiting room with other people who weren't testing. I was using a calculator. I can't stand math, especially dividing big numbers. Half way through the HR rep sees that I am using a calculator (I wasn't told I couldn't, when given the test), she told me then that I couldn't use it. I wasn't able to finish the rest of the test. I knew the formulas, how to set up the math problems, it was just dividing to get the final number, which proves nothing of my nursing ability. Well I got the first half of the test right since I used the calculator, but it wasn't enough for me to pass, so they sent me home with a study packet and told me to come back in a week. Well I decided against it. They didn't even tell me the salary, or the available postions, or give me a tour, they didn't even interview me!! I found it very discouarging that they only found me worthy of a position if I passed their test. And the HR rep was very rude and knew nothing about nursing. :( :(