L&Dnurse13

It is not in North Carolina. Check your BON. Some states allow it.

We are allowed in NC but have to show competence. Usually we have to be signed off 3 times to do them without someone watching. Mostly nurses at our facility use them to check for pooling and getting a slide for ferning or hsv outbreak. Check with your state Board of Nursing to see if its allowed where you are.

We take the amount of fluid in the suction canister at delivery of infant and subtract the end amount. We weigh all of the laps and towels used during the procedure subtracting the dry weight of the items and add that to the total.

I'm a l&d nurse and had a c/s at the hospital I work at 9 months ago. I refused for my son to go to the nursery or have a bath. There was no religious or cultural reason. Just a personal preference to allow him to transition to this cold, bright, noisy world before giving him a bath. He was with me warm and safe for 38 weeks and I wanted him to transition that way. He was held only briefly by his daddy and big sisters and no one else but me the first day. His first bath was at48 hrs old at home. The nurses just wore gloves when doing an assessment.

Wow. 6 months sounds wonderful. I work in a high risk l&d and only got 12 weeks as a new grad. 2 of those were hospital orientation. 10 weeks after beginning on l&d I was on my own. I did have a resource person assigned to me for the next year. Our resource RN's answer ?'s but do not go into deliveries with you unless something is going on. I felt so lost. I have been in L&D for 4 years now and am comfortable, but that took about 2 years to accomplish. 6 months would be great, but we do an average of 400 deliveries a month, so it is sometimes hard to keep an orientee that long. I know as a preceptor now it is hard to have a new grad ready after 10 weeks. There have been times we have had to let someone go early due to census on the floor.

I work in a high risk labor & delivery unit in NC. I was hired as a new grad. We have a slightly higher turn over rate due to being a military town, but out unit hires new grads almost every year. Most work out well and only leave if hubby gets transfered. I had no interest in med surg and would of hated getting even 6 months experience. I was trained to do the job I do and love every minute of it, but it is not what I thought it was when I first applied. A lot of moms are really sick, you have two patients, one that you cannot visually see. There aren't always happy endings. Its not always easy. This was not where I thought I wanted to be. I figured I would work L&D for a year and transfer to NICU. After 6 months I realized I loved where I was. The whole reason I got my RN was to be a NICU nurse. Now I wouldn't even think of leaving. You may be surprised what area you fall in love with! Good luck!

At our hospital we do around 500 deliveries a month. The pt's RN will circulate during the c/s and recover mom. Nicu does the initial assessment of baby then if stable we weigh baby and let mom see him/her. Then baby is taken to nursery and mom is moved to OBRR. Mom stays an hour and when dc criteria is met is transferred to PP and reunited with baby.

I can relate to this. When I first started L&D (My first RN position also) I hoped for cervidil inductions or a certain groups pts. I really wanted quiet nights. I did not want deliveries at all. I have been an L&D RN now for over 3 years and go in hoping for deliveries. It does pass. It gets better everyday. As you become more confident and your skills get better then things fall into place. There is so much to learn on orientation and it goes by so fast. Very overwhelming. Once orientation is over you may still feel this way, but give yourself time. I used to dream of going to postpartum. I just wanted to get my time in L&D over and move on. Now I would not leave L&D for anything. I love my job and the labor and birth process get better. You learn what needs to be done now and what can wait a bit. Some things become automatic. Hang in there! You sound like you are just overwhelmed. It will get better. If you have any ?'s just ask.

I work 4 12's ,then 6 off, 2 12's and 2 off and it starts over. 1 call day during the month and usually 3 days overtime. I also have to drive an hour to work. It took a little while and I was not a newbie, but I love my schedule now. I have worked 7 in a row and will never do that again. Could not imagine my schedule working if I was new. No way I could handle it.

I work in a hospital setting and I LOVE our midwives!!!!! They are awesome and allow low risk women to move around and some even allow fluids. Makes things easier on the mother. They are very supportive, do not rush a c-section unless necessary, will stay with the pt allowing them to push in whatever position feels best as tolerated by baby of course. That being said they also know when to call the MD in to take over. I also love our doctors. They are also great. But the midwife experience is more personal. They should continue to deliver. I am personally not a huge fan of homebirths as I have seen many times how a stable low risk mother can change in minutes to a high risk one. But to each his own. If you are well educated in the home birth experience and choose one for yourself, I am ok with that. I just don't like it when someone has not educated their selves and blame us when something goes wrong and they are rushed to us to fix it. The midwife here did not do what was right for this pt. You cannot blame all midwives for this.

We do around 400 deliveries a month, although this month we are past 500. We have an attending in house always. We also have at least 1 midwife in house along with anesthesia on L&D 24/7. We are a high risk unit with a level 3 NICU. As fast as things can go wrong on L&D I am not sure I would be comfortable with no one being in house all the time. We have had c-sections called and baby out in 5 minutes from call time and still have to bag baby. Scary to think about waiting 45 minutes.

Med surg or ER....Give me OB ANY day

1. At our facility we wear our own scrubs when circulating. 2. We use J&J baby soap and water. Much milder. 3.Our tables are good for 24 hours if covered, but cannot be moved to another room. We are a high risk unit with a level 3 NICU. Hope this helps.

Our MB unit would love if the pts were just tucked into bed. Really though after the 1 hr recovery in L&D they only have to do fundal checks q 1 hour for 4 hours then q 4 for 24 hours. They help mom up the first time then the pts are walkie talkies. A few times I have worked MB I have seen the MB nurses running around like they are so busy and I am sitting at the desk waiting for my next check or for a pt to need something. May have something to do with the fact that in L&D things can change so rapidly that we have to have everything just right from the moment we receive report. I love our MB nurses. They are awesome, but we also have unit to unit concerns. Our PCM is over the whole birth center. We have also had nights where out triage is full, (Ours is only 5 beds. We have a seperate 4 bed ATU) and we have pts laboring in the OR and waiting rooms. Those times are when we need to send pt out to MB and at times can't due to couplet care even if there are empty beds. It gets so bad at times that we double 2 delivered pts in 1 room. I love my job and could not imagine working in any other hospital though. I work nights and our nurses are like a huge family. Couldn't be happier even with the frustration.

I believe our MB unit is 34 rooms. The nurses there do couplet care so 4 moms and 4 babies. L&D RN's and techs float to MB when needed and as staffing allows. MB nurses do not float at this time. We are one of 2 level 3 NICU's in the state, but we do not do neonatal surgeries. All of those OB pts get transferres out or delivered, baby stabilized and flown out. Love working in a high risk unit, but cannot imagine 2 hour recoveries.

I should also add that we have 2 nursery nurses to take baby, we do not do baby baths, meds, and only the initial and 30 minute assessment on baby. If there is a complication with baby they go straight to nursery or we call NICU for assessment. Our pts do not have to be able to walk, shower, or pee. They have to have stable v/s of course, and no post delivery complications. But an hout is possible with teaching included if you do not have to wait for epidural to wear off.

Our recovery starts at delivery of placenta and is 1 hour long in most cases. Baby stays with mom for up to 1 hour then goes to nursery. Our pts usually cannot get up yet due to epidural and are transferred on a stretcher. Most of the time our recovery last a little over an hour. If there is an extensive repair we may keep pt longer. Our Mag pt's stay with us as long as they are on mag. Our c-section recoveries are 1 hour from the time we get to Recovery as long as mom is stable and v/s are within guidelines. Sometimes recovery times can be related to the unit. A smaller unit may be able to do longer recoveries. We are a high risk unit with a level 3 NICU, 15 LDR's and 3 OR's. We do around 500 deliveries a month.

I agree with the previous post. Why go through Med surg when L&D is really what you want. You will be trained in what you need to be trained in. I went straight into L&D and have never regreted not going to Med Surg first. It was not what I wanted. Our instructors also told us we needed a years experience, but my nurse manager told me she would rather hire new grads. They are able to be trained just for L&D without having to learn a new way to think about a situation. Do what is best for you and good luck!!!

I am ok with birth plans, I am there for the pt and to help their labor go as smooth as possible. That is my job. I want every pt to look back and remember their delivery with joy, not sadness. I don't mind the walking or position changes, but we are not a birth center we are a high risk unit with a level 3 NICU that does over 400 deliveries a month. A lot of these are transfers for PIH, HELLP, etc... It needs to be discussed with the doc prior to labor. If I have a pt with PIH or IUGR, no I am not comfortable with them off the monitor. I have seen too much. Pts really need to educate themselves prior to labor. I have had pts on insulin drips have food brought in then end up with a BS of >350, get mad at me because it was in her birth plan that she would eat during labor. Just need a little more education.

I have been a L&D nurse for 3 years. I have my share of pts who have attitudes, feel that they are in a hotel, worry more about Daddy than the baby, etc... but I also have wonderful moments where the family thanks me for being there, hugs from emotional and greatful family members, pictures for the baby book. It is great. When a new mom sees her baby for the first time the look on her face is priceless. I love being part of a miracle every night at work. That being said, I think it is a certain kind of nurse who can deal with the high emotions of L&D. You definantly have to be able to handle an adrenaline rush on occasion. There are bad moments, not finding a fetal heart rate and the sinking feeling of what comes next, the dad or family who is upset because the epidural isn't coming fast enough. In seconds the normal can become an emergency and the whole POC can change. But it is an AMAZING job. So yes, for me the good outweighs the bad. Always.:heartbeat

i also started l&d as a new rn. :yeah:my advise is do not be too hard on yourself. i was told it would take 2 years to feel confident in what you are doing and they were right. things can change in seconds. always be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best. take advantage of any classes offered. my preceptor encouraged me to watch how other rn's did their deliveries. see if your preceptor will do this also. you can learn a few tricks this way and find your best style. now when i train nurses for l&d i have them go with other nurses for procedures and in triage if they are able. we also take all of the complicated, c-section, or advanced labor pts even if it is not our turn. all in all just enjoy what you do. and give yourself time to learn it all.

How many births do you do per year or per month? 400-500 How many OB/gyns do you have on staff? 23 How many family practice doctors delivery babies? none How many nurses do you have on staff for L&D for each shift? 9-12 Do nurses place cytotec or do the doctors do it? RN's place all doses unless the md happens to be in house Are there any nurses that refuse to place cytotec? No Are their doctors in house during the cytotec induction? Yes, we have an attending in house 24 hours Is the surgery crew in house during cytotec inductions? Yes, CRNA and md in house at all times If you place cytotec,what was required to train you to place cytotec? Just like a cervical check. The preceptor checks placement behind the RN placing it. Have to have 3 check offs to place independantly Is Cytotec used on viable pregnancies or only on IUFD? Both Do you or would feel comfortable placing cytotec? I am comfortable placing it

We get $1.10 more an hour. I'm in NC