smithtip

Thanks so much for the links :) I did a search but I was getting everything BUT what I was looking for :) It sort of sounds like I'm just going to have to hang in there. I've found I don't get as many opportunities for learning on third shift since no one is "scheduled" during those hours. I'll have patience :) Thanks again for the links - they had some great tips in there!

When I did my clinical rotations - the facility put foleys in for epidurals without many questions asked. The smaller facility I now work at does straight caths. We try and get the patient to go to the bathroom right before the epidural and they generally don't need cathed much if at all depending on how much longer their labor progresses. I've also seen nurses offer a bedpan if the urge is there, but often it isn't. Our facility also has a policy in affect that if a foley cath is being inserted that a urine specimen must be collected to do a u/a to determine if an infection is present before the insertion of a foley to try and rule out if a foley is causing an infection.

I have heard some horror stories from new grads that are orienting at facilities that are much bigger than the one I work it. As I mentioned in another post, we are a small "birthing center" that is in a hospital but a closed unit. We have 4 "birthing" rooms, two rooms that have standard hospitals beds in them - we try and use those for c-section patients, and an "exam" room that has been used to deliver babies in when there are a lot of people on the floor at once. I used to be a social worker before I went to school to be a nurse (I'm a new grad too) so when I decided to go into maternity it was more for the education piece/pointing mom in the right direction for resources. I didn't enjoy labor and delivery during my clinical rotations because I felt like everything went too fast and I didn't understand why pregnant women were restricted to bed, forced to have foley's, etc. When I got the job at my current facility, I didn't have much choice but to also learn L&D because it is such a small facility and the nurses are assigned to rotating departments (meaning you do all three so I have to learn all three). However, being in the facility that I am in, I don't mind L&D as much besides feeling clueless on what to do - which I'm hoping will get better. As someone said earlier, though, I could see blood being an issue, or screaming patients, or heck even screaming babies. Sometimes when you've got a real screecher for a baby it can be unnerving doing a PKU or drawing their CBC - so I suppose that could deter someone too.

Hi! I a new grad (Graduated in June of 2008) and I have been orienting on a maternity floor since August 1st. Because we're a small hospital, I have to become familiar with nursery, labor and delivery, and post-partum care. I am really struggling with lady partsl exams. My preceptor never showed me how to even do one (which way to stick your fingers in) but I gathered that from watching. The biggest issue I have is figuring out dilation, effacement, and station. I get the idea of each of these concepts, but always seem to just get "lost" in the lady parts. Surprisingly, I have almost "guessed" the dilation correctly on people, but I still feel lost. I've noticed too when people are dilated more that I have a tendency to go in "too far" and I'm touching the baby's head versus the cervix. Any suggestions for grasping lady partsl exams? I know it "takes a long time" to understand that, I would just love some advice or guidance so I don't get discouraged.