OBGYN*RN

Hello all! So after wanting to be an OB nurse ever since the beginning of nursing school my dream finally is coming true! I wasnt able to go right into OB after receiving my license because there were NO positions, I could barely find any jobs, let alone my dream job. But after 4 months I found work on an ortho/med surg unit and have been there for 9 months. I had been applying since I was eligible to transfer (after 6 months) to the OB unit upstairs, finally got an interview and got the job in Mom/Baby! Im so excited and happy im finally in the specialty I have wanted for so long. But now I find myself also nervous, will I pick up everything I need to since ortho/med surg is a completely different realm. I also find it slightly scary, that just as i was starting to feel pretty comfortable with being a nurse (as i am coming close to my one year), i will be taking a few steps back by "starting over". I guess you can say im excited for the change but also nervous for the change. After having the same routine for 9 months this will be different for me. So my question is, is the transition from med/surg nurse to mom/baby nurse a difficult one? Will it help me that im not a new NEW grad and have some experience? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

Well, I was in a similiar situation about 2 months ago. I too am a new grad and was told by my hospital I would get a longer orientation. I thought I was getting 8 or 9 wks and ended up getting 6wks. I spoke with my nurse educator and they did explain they could extend it by a few days but not much more for scheduling reasons. I was terrified to get off Orientation, but like many vets have told me, you never are going to truly feel READY. You'll always think you can use more time. I use to jokingly say I would take a 6 month Orientation if they would let me. But I said all that to say that 2 months off Orientation later I feel Im doing ok. I still have tons of questions, still ask my coworkers for help...and thats ok. I still go to work everyday nervous, because Im hoping I can tackle the challenges of the night (I work nights) but my coworkers are amazing, and I never really feel alone. Just last week I had a patient spike a heart rate of 172, several PVCs on the monitor and I was terrified. But literally everyone there helped me. One nurse helped page a doctor for me, another nurse helped me with assessing the patient, another nurse was able to help me put orders in the computer that the doctor wanted and then ANOTHER nurse helped me get the patient to another unit that was better able to deal with patients with heart problems. I was truly thankful for their support. So I personally think you just do some soul searching...do you feel you're not ready to be alone because of your nerves, or do you feel you would be unsafe. IF you feel you would be unsafe I would definitely ask your manager about getting a few extra shifts added. Maybe you can shadow a nurse or your day off, or something of that nature to get extra time in. If you think its just nerves (which mine was, I had so much anxiety about this I cried a few times) then I think you should just bite the bullet and see how it goes. I really feel like sometimes the hardest part of getting off Orientation is the act of getting off. Once your off you realize that you're not really alone. You also realize that you learned alot more in Orientation than you thought. Im only 2 months off so trust me I completely understand what you are going through. But I really believe you will find its not as bad as you thought. Especially if you have nice,helpful coworkers. But dont quit...as you said jobs for new grads are so hard to come by. If you can tough it out I would. GOOD LUCK!

thank you all sooooo much! i really appreciate all your feedback/advice/experiences. i feel a bit better after reading your posts. sounds like for the most part most people on nights dont find it too terrible and getting your body use to the schedule is most of the battle. and @ kalipsored, im 23 so hopefully my social life doesnt suffer tooo much lol. though im sure it will decline a bit. but im willing to take the chance. with the economy and the job market so tough right now, i think having a job makes me happier than anything else. it took me forever to find a job (i graduated in june), so just being able to find something makes me ecstatic. well thanks guys! if anybody else has anymore tips, keep them coming. i work tonight for the first time so ill be sure to come back and tell you all how it was :)

Hello All, I'm a new grad RN on an ortho/med surg unit. As everyone knows nursing jobs for new grads are SO HARD to come by and the only position they had available was a night shift position (which I'm not complaining about I'm just thankful to have a job) nevertheless, I'm nervous about getting use to the schedule, being able to sleep in the day, staying awake etc. I'm also curious about what to expect on the nursing end. A lot of people say night shift is great for a new nurse to get comfortable and is a BIT slower paced (though I know with less resources available at night, it can also be harder). I would love to hear from any night shift nurses to give me a quick overview of your life on night shift, positives about working at night and what I can expect. I'm nervous about it so any help/advice would be appreciated :-)

hello all, just wanted to make a post because i graduate in 4 weeks from a bsn program and have my first interview soon. this job is my first choice of a place to work and im hoping i get the job. basically the job will start once i pass nclex and is a nursing internship where you get paid full rn salary to work with a preceptor/mentor for 16 weeks in various areas of the hospital. they float you to different areas to give you some good experiences and give you a quick taste of alot of units. then after the 16 week orientation is finished you take a full time job on a unit. at this hospital they no longer take new grads right into a unit..you have to go through this 16 week intenship/orientation in order to work there. so i said all that to ask, is there anything that you experienced nurses can tell me that i should make sure i do or dont do to do well in the interview. in my management class we learned alot of what to do on interviews i.e. know the hospitals vision/mission statement etc. but i know sometimes hearing advice from nurses might get me better info. any questions they always ask? anything i should make sure i say? any info would be helpful!

thank you so much! all of you guys have been very helpful with giving me an idea of what to expect. i will keep you updated on my progress!

thank you guys so much....that really helps alot more! im excited to get started!

hello everyone! i'm a senior nursing student in my last quarter of bsn school (10 more weeks left!!!) and im completing my last class which is our role transition, preceptor guided experience course (you work the shift of your preceptor 2-3 days per week and act as an rn). anyway i absolutely love ob and i was blessed to get into antepartum for the class (im so happy about it because literally everyone wants an ob postion in my class). so my question is can you guys give me a quick overview on what i'll see on an antepartum unit and what the rn does on these units. during my ob rotation last year they only put us on l&d and postpartum so i have never been on an antepartum unit. i just know from class that antepartum consists of patients who arent ready to deliver but might have complications with their pregnancy. but i was just curious as to whether some of the patients are general med patients who just happen to be pregnant or if it was pregnancy specific complications. just any feedback would be appreciated :-)

you will by no means remember everything. but there are serveral meds that are common knowledge and you will see so often in the field as a nurse that you will know side effects...complications..dosages etc without even really knowing that you know it. when i was a sophomore and took pharm i thought it would be the hardest class ever. i ended up with an A in it and ive still retained alot of the info we learned. and trust me...as a nurse you will never know ALL meds..the beauty is you can look them up in drug books...ask people.. and use many other resources to know what a drug is and what its for. but you will retain alot more drug info than you think.

hello mctavishcat, to answer your question I will first say that nursing school is hard..its challenging and takes a lot of time and dedication but its so worth it in the end. I am living proof that it can be done. Theres been times when ive lost sleep because of studying..couldnt hang out with friends because of the demands of classes and clinicals & wanted to pull my hair out because of hard classes but im almost done and ive made it through thus far with a 3.7 gpa and im still in one piece lol. As long as you work hard and give your all you will be just fine. So many people told me back in high school & in the beginning of college how hard nursing school is and how its one of the toughest, most stressful majors you can have..and they scared the sh*t out of me. But i must say..you have gotta just go into to it with the belief that you can do it. I'm not saying its gonna be easy but if its what you really wanna do..then you can do it..its as simple as that. Now as far as taking prereqs online..im not sure how that would work really. I would 1st check with the school to see if all the classes you already took will count towards your nursing prereqs. And By you already having a degree you can always check with the school to see if they offer online courses or a way for you to go to school without the demands of a full time nursing schedule. I know a lot of schools offer accelerated programs for nursing students who already hold bachelors degrees in another field. I will say though that usually BSN programs need their students to be full time. If you wanted to 1st become an LPN ..then an RN that might be a little easier if you need to teach full time. Not as far as the cost goes, if you go to a 4 year university to get yours BSN you will of course pay more than if you went to a community college to get your lpn or your associate RN...once you figure out what you wanna do, you can then figure out the cost and work on financial aid. Either way..I wish you good luck.

No problem Sand Dollar.. I'm glad i could be of help to you and everyone else. I know what it feels like to be entering nursing school and have soooo many questions and concerns. So im glad to help you. Now for your question...A&P is important..the basic structures of the body and how they work are important for nursing. But trust me..the info will sink in. Dont feel like you have to know everything and remember everything. And in most of my nursing classes they would review the A&P pertaining to whatever disease we were studying. But yes A&P is the foundation of everything..but dont let that scare you. I promise you when you are finished with A&P you will know so much and so much of it will stick with you. Now as far as chemistry and microbiology..those classes arent as important in nursing. Every now and then a little chemistry will help you when learning about drugs and medicines and microbiology will help with learning about bacterial infections and viruses but those classes wont make or break you in your nursing classes. I would say A&P would be the one class of your prereqs that will help you most with nursing school. Not saying your chem and micro arent important but im not gonna lie and say we use it alot lol. They make you take all those classes because they want you to be well rounded and have basic information on alot of things but trust me..if you dont memorize the periodic table you wont fail nursing school by any means lol.

For the hep B...I believe you have to have all 3 (the series) by the time they ask for your shot records. I know we had to. But I would call to ask and check with them to find out the details. As long as you have had 1 or 2 of the shots they might just be able to wait until you get your last one.

Glad to know im not alone :)

glad to see so many of you love med surg..it just wasnt for me. Thats why i love nursing..you can do whatever interests you.

Thats good you are excited! And you're right a lot of the prereqs are alot of memorization. Good luck with everything!