rpbear

My husband is being relocated to McChord AFB in June. I am an L&D nurse with over 5 years of L&D experience. I have looked at several hospital websites, but since I am not moving until June, I have not applied to any jobs. I understand that 8 hour shifts are the norm, is this correct? Any information would be helpful since I am just starting my search. I do not want to commute very far (30 minutes or so), and I am only looking for a per diem job. So where is a good place for me to work? Thanks in advance!

It was not hard to start in L&D, it was what I wanted from the moment I started nursing school. I had 12 weeks of orientation on a very busy unit, it was more than enough orientation, but if you get hired on a smaller unit you may need more time on orientation, the unit I work on now the new grads get 16 weeks. I care for 1-2 labor patients at a time, depends on where they are in labor. There is no such thing as "typical" in L&D. Our nights vary from no patients at all, to all 13 rooms full, and someone delivering in triage. This has all happend in the last 3 weeks! Each unit is unique, the last hospital I work did 6000+ deliveries a year, the one I work now does about 1200+ a year, a big diffenrence in staffing and pt flow. If L&D is what you want then go for it!

I think you will find that a lot of us did not start out on med/surg. I started on L&D, I love it! You have to find the right hospital that will hire new grads into something other than Med/surg. Good luck and follow your heart!!!

We have jetted tubs in each room, if the pt is able to ambulate then they are able to tub. There is a written policy about using the tub, we also have tub thermometers so the water doesn't get too hot. We have a waterproof doppler we use while in the tub. I have worked in another facility that did sterile water injection, they were done by the CNM only, we just assisted. They do sting really bad, but work well.

I work in a hospital that has most of those services and although we don't have "visiting hours" we do have quiet hours, and we do ask our pt's and families to be respectful of others. We have couches and recliners for them to sleep in and I will bring them pillows and blankets, mostly because I want them to go to sleep! I like that they can order room service because then they don't ask me for food and drinks, they just pick up the phone and order whatever they want, pt's eat more because they pick what they want to eat. We have great security that will back us up with rude or disrespectful pt's and visitors. I also want to add that I love working at this facility, all the concerns that are being brought up are valid concerns, but it is not as bad as people are imagining it.

We get asked to float also, and everytime we ask them "Would you want to be floated to L&D?" The answer is always NO! wo we ask "then why do you think we would be comfortable floating to your floor?" They have stopped asking us to float! We will go and be "helping hands" which means we don't take a pt assignment we just help, that leaves us available to come back to L&D if needed.

I have worked on 2 L&D units, one did 600+ deliveries a month, the other does 100-150 deliveries a month. I feel 10X busier on the unit with less deliveries. We have less staff, we do overflow, we have AP's, we have PP's, we have way less rooms, so we are always doing the Pt. shuffle. "busy" is not about how many deliveries you do a month.

I think every new person in L&D goes through the phase of having a "cloud" follow them. Your storm cloud will pass. In the meantime take each experience as a learning experience. I have been in L&D for 4 year, started as a new grad, and I still get freaked out! But, I have learned from each scarry experience and the next time it happens I am a little more prepared then the first time. On the other hand, if your issues are with dangerous staffing, horrible preceptors, or a unit that just doesn't support and help everyone out, then you might have to re-evaluate you work place and not the job itself. good luck and hang in there, it will get better!

I liked the policy at one hospital I worked at, I order to call it failure to progress, they had to have an IUPC, the MVU's must be 180-200 for 2 hours with no change. I think this is a great way to trully say they are failure to progress. If the IUPC was placed and the MVU's were only 120, then you know that the contractions are not strong enough to produce change. Of course there are situations that this was not possible, but it took a lot of the questions out of the situation.

I have no problems taking care of well educated natural birthers or hypnobirthers. I say well educated because even though you don't want any interventions it is important to know what interventions might be needed and why they are needed. Durring labor is not the time to try to explain in great details these interventions and why they are needed (usually an emergency situation that requires quick action). So do some research about what interventions might be needed and why so that if they are needed you will know what to expect and understand why we are asking for these procedures. This will make your experience so much better for both you and your partner. Good luck and congrats!

I took this test about 7 months ago. It was a little stressful. I think the best way to prepare is to start reviewing some basics and try to think like you did in nursing school. Basically you will be writing a care plan based on a certain situation. Think about what you would assess on the pt, what interventions and why and what your intended outcome will be. The most stessfull part fot me is that it was timed. I ended up running out of time on my last question but still did very well on it, the highest score my educator has seen so far. Try not to worry since it is not a pass/fail type test. Good luck!

I remember a vasoprevia staying for 4 months I think. From the moment it was found until 37 weeks when she delivered via c-section. she had an INT at all times, and q 3 day blood draws for type and screen. She was a trooper, never once complaining. She left with a healthy baby.

My daughter is almost 11 and I cannot imagine her being pregnant. She has not even started puberty yet. I know some of the girls in her class are very developed, but that is still not right. Just imagine that 11 year old mom will only be 16 when her kid goes to kindergarten! The oldest I have seen is 52, the youngest 12 when she got pregnant, 13 at delivery.

Keep yourself well hydrated durring the day. Also, lots of high protien snacks instead of one large lunch works great for me. I do eat lunch but I also eat lots of small snacks like cheese, cereal bars, PB crackers etc. I know it is difficult to sneak in food and drink, but it is the only way I can survive. I don't take a "break" to eat and drink, I will just snack and drink while sitting down to chart, or if I have to run off the unit for something, I will drink along the way. If you don't take care of yourself you are useless to your pts.!!!!

These are just a few things that I have heard of from other women, I have not been an OB nurse long enough to see many changes... We no longer take mom to the "delivery room" to deliver Dads are not just allowed in the delivery they are encouraged to take part in the experience babys room in with moms they no longer stay in the nursery between feedings 24 hour stay after vag delivery, not 3-5 days elective primary c-sections, not sure I totally agree with this one

If nobody that works there currently wants the position, then they have no right to complain about giving to a younger nurse. I think you should go for it, even if you don't get it, you have gained some interview skills, and maybe some good feedback about what they are looking for. And they will remember that you are willing to step up and take a leadership roll if something else comes up. Good luck!

Good luck getting a GS (civil service) job, veterans and other GS workers have priority and there are a lot of veterans and GS workers in the area that will have preference over you. I applied for a GS job 8 months ago, they put you in a file and when there is an opening they might call you. I found another job so I havent pushed the idea, but sometimes it will take years for an opening. Good Luck

One early morning at about 0630 as day shift was arriving, us nightshifters were talking around the desk. As any nightshifter knows you get a little punch drunk at this hour. Well, the story that was being told was very funny (I don't rememver the story, just the aftermath) as one nurse laughed hysterically she snorter, this caused a chain reaction on one nurse falling off of her rolling chair and another nurse who was sipping coffee to shoot HOT coffee out of her nose! One of my favorite moments as a nurse! We still laugh about it 2 years later.

I would check your facilities policy and also state laws about controlled substaces. If there is ever an issue with a kid or a med the only thing you have to go by is policy and law, not what is most convienient for the nurse. If the policy does not work for you then talk to supervisors about changing it. You could get yourself into a lot of trouble if you are not following policy about controlled substances.

At my last hospital we had a bonus attached to our pt. sat. score, if we could keep it above a certain percent for the quarter, we got a $100 bonus. I don't think the money changed anything that any of us did with our pts, we were still as kind and compassionate as we were before the money. We were just more aware of the score. I think the customer service model has it's place, but not in healthcare, we are there to care for thier helath needs, not to make sure the pillows are fluffy, and the jello is fresh! If they leave healthier than when they arrived, we have done our jobs, jello or no jello.

Wait until these people see a OB case turn from low risk to PIH, to fetal distress to and emergency c-section, to a PPH, to DIC. Or see a shoulder distocia with a full resucitation of the newborn. To say that these are not real nurses because the patients are just having a baby is crazy. Whould they trust thier own baby's life to someone who is not a "real" nurse? I don't think so. Every nurse has thier own calling to a specialty, I wouldn't want to do anything else. We have been called "spoiled" by other units because we only have 1-2 pts. but when told "then come work OB with all the "spoiled" nurses" they all look at us like we are crazy! To each his own.

Knowledge deficit r/t pregnancy, r/t upcoming labor, r/t infant care, r/t fetal kick counts, etc. body image concern, can't remember the exact nanda diagnosis, r/t growing belly and normal changes of pregnancy. Otherwise sounds like a normal pregnancy without any major concerns.

You can palpate this easily because the cord is usually still pulsing, I have never tried to auscultate the rate at this site. The only reason I could think that this would be a good site to auscultate is that the baby should be crying and the HR is difficult to hear over the crying.

At 5 months, the baby is almost viable, depends on how many weeks. I think this plays a huge role it the decision. As far as what would I do if this was my pt....I would listen to her concerns make sure she has all the correct information about both sides, and make sure she has discussed this with ther partner. I would offer her to talk with a specialist, and encourage her to get a second oppinion. Whatever her decision she should have support from everyone involved. tough situation, I think this discussion could apply to any situation in which a pt asks our oppinion about a ethical decision.

I took ACLS that was taught by a former L&D RN and was mostly L&D RN's. First we did all the normal ACLS stuff, then we did some specific drills for OB, like chest compressions on a pregnant woman, what drugs you would use etc. I found it very helpful.