starry01

I'm a 33 weeks pregnant with my first baby. Thankfully, my pregnancy has been smooth. I've had a couple of episodes of night nausea, passed my GDM screening, gained 14.5 lbs, and baby is measuring well. Except, I am a Labor and Delivery nurse. The patient load and comments from coworkers are unbelievable. High acuity patients while pregnant is physically and emotional exhausting. I've received all sorts of cases. For example, I've had at least three patients endorsed with Quantiferon positive labs, without a confirmation chest x-ray. :drum roll: I've been the primary nurse for countless crash c-sections, cord prolapse, partial placenta abruption, postpartum hemorrhage with massive transfusion protocol. Patients with BMI 60-63. Substance abuse cases. I've acted as the first responder for traumas/MVA's. Thankfully, I have helping hands to push and break beds and hold limbs. But the highlight (with a sarcastic cherry on top) are THE questions from coworkers. These are the questions I've received so far with their respective answers: Was your pregnancy planned? Yes Are you having twins? No Are you Gestational Diabetic? No Are your fluids ok? Yes Can I ultrasound your baby? No How many weeks are you now? Varies Who's taking care of your baby when you go back to work? My mom, she's retiring this month and she's 68 years old. Is your husband happy? Yes How long have you been married? 3 years, boo. And dated for 3, engaged for 2. Total years together 8. How old are you? 31. What are you having? A boy. Comment: oh, It's girl because of the way your shaped. Okay. Are you moving closer to home? Now I am. So are you transferring to another affiliated facility? I need to consider it. Where are you delivering? At an undisclosed location. Away from physicians in training and immediate nursing circles. ANY SIGNS OF PRETERM LABOR? :This one is way too special to address because it come from my charge nurse: These are L&D nurse to L&D nurse questions! It's frustrating because 1) there are clearly poor professional boundaries at play, 2) there is definitely a generation difference at play as well. All of these questions come from the older nurses, who, unfortunately, run the show. I do not want to come off as ungrateful for the semi-effort made to accommodate my patient load. At the same time, I want them to know that they are contributing to anxiety about my pregnancy and that they are being rude. Maybe it's because I mentioned I am considering a transfer?

I work in L&D and there is definitely tension with PP. To start, I work at a high-risk county/teaching hospital. We do recovery for both mom and baby. We do the baby bath, vaccines, skin-to-skin, breast feeding, baby blood sugars, hemacu, and provider communication. Anyway, when it's time to transfer- I feel like I've been through hell and back with laboring. I've learned to have the basics down for PP- things that seem minor to L&D but important to PP- like delivery type, whether mom has voided, EBL, laceration type, diaper counts, provider who completed newborn assessment, apgar scores, whether mom has started pumping. If it's a c-section give the reason why mom had a c-section (ie repeat, failure to descend, fetal distress). I also want to add that I also float to PP and notice that each unit has a different work flows and priorities. If you learn what information they're expecting off the bat transferring is smoother.

Keep an open mind. My coworkers (now RNs) started as LVN's and agree both programs are different in scope of practice. You are broadening your skills and critical thinking. There is always something new to learn. You do not want to start a program and think there is nothing more to be gained. You'd be starting off on the wrong foot and most importantly, the wrong frame of thought. As far as the age difference from your classmates, you don't need to be best friends with everyone there. But you will need a small group of 2-3 people to count on, split assignments with, and study with as well. If you need clarification from a professor, email them, go to office hours, or even wait between class breaks or at the end of the class to talk to them. Keep in mind the manner in which you come across. Don't correct them in front of fellow students. They'll appreciate it. Lastly, think about the bigger picture. Professors and classmates will ultimately be your professional network. Professors will be writing you future letters of recommendations and appointing who they think best for a new grad job or internship at their place of work. Every exam, class discussion, office hour visit, volunteer opportunity, and even attitude will be your track record.

I went from med-surg to L&D. The journey is different for everyone. It was all about the right timing/place situation for me. I would sign up for job alerts with facilities that have OB and have your cover letter and resume ready. Med-surg helped me learn how to prioritize acuity/tasks and after having tons of hard sticks on Med-Surg you'll have an easy time starting IV's in OB. I personally went into L&D by luck of the draw. I had a terrible experience moving 60 miles for my med-surg job only for the unit to shut down 4 months afterwards. Luckily, I had my NRP and ACLS in hopes of landing L&D, which definitely helped me make my case to the nursing director. My coworkers come from different backgrounds too- SNIF's, medical spas, abroad experience, pediatrics. Hope this helps. Best of luck!

I am a new l&d nurse with close to 30 days on the floor. I work on a high-risk unit at a teaching hospital. I have 10 days left on orientation but have been caring for patients independently for a week (with my preceptor keeping a close eye, which I feel very comfortable with and appreciate). I have found that CEFM on morbidly obese moms is difficult and finding that FHR after mom repositions is even more difficult. Yesterday I had an obese mom who was SROM, CEFM and on pitocin, with contractions registering on the monitor. She was only 1 cm dilated so an IUPC was placed when she reached 2 cm. After the OB resident placed the IUPC, I had a difficult time finding the FHR externally and called my preceptor for help after about 40 seconds - a minute. She then immediately initiated the chain of command. An U/S reassured FHR was in the 130's. After an FSE was placed. When the FSE was placed, it picked up a late decel. By this time, pitocin was off and the teams were paged to an emergent c/s as a precaution. Thankfully baby recovered from the decel and mom was allowed to labor on. My preceptor advised me to be more proactive calling for help when needed. I relayed that I was unsure if I was having trouble finding the FHR because mom was obese (since I was having a hard time finding the FHR all throughout the shift and had even called her a couple of times for FHR placement) or because baby was down. Her token of advise was "if you're not sure, call for help." Her advise, in retrospect, is valid and rational. I'm not disputing it. My question is, how long should I attempt to find a FHR on an a mom before calling for help?

Thank you for your responses! Just an update- a month and a half after my post, our unit was expectantly shut down. :/

Hi everyone, I am posting this in dire need of direction. I have been on a med-surg overflow/research ward for 4 months. I did not have the luxury of landing a new grad program so my orientation was brutal- 6 weeks, with starting on the floor at first then getting trained on policies. My "perceptors" where nurses who were leaving their position and didn't sign up to train me. On top of that, they had thick accents and were annoyed when I asked for clarifications...fast forward to now- I am on my own and function as the RN, NA, and secretary. We do not have a nurse's aid or secretary, we chart by paper and I am 3 people in 1. There is also the nurse bully who I've heard throw another new grad under the bus to the nursing supervisor, without addressing the nurse directly. I have been working mostly evening shift and some nights. I have played "team nursing" and covered a few shifts. I have tried to look at the bigger picture and toward better days. But the truth is that I am exhausted, unhealthy with anxiety/insomnia, and don't see my husband too much (which is dangerous territory considering we just hit our 1 year anniversary), parents, or friends (as I actually moved for this position). I would like my life back. What positions should I consider outside the hospital? My background is in public health and research. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Hi, It depends on a lot of factors. Is someone helping you plan your wedding? If yes, I think you can squeeze in at least 4 hours a day of studying for the NCLEX. If not, consider your study habits. I graduated in early June and got married mid-July. I had a day-of wedding coordinator but was planning all the details and dealing with all my other vendors on my own. I did not have time to study before my wedding. Hence, I took my NCLEX in mid-September. Because I passed my boards relatively late- I knew I would not be eligible to apply to new grad programs. These fall programs began anywhere from September through August. So I honeymooned right after. Everything depends on your schedule and if you are willing to wait to hold off on the honeymoon. If you know for a fact that you will get hired right out of school- I would hold off on the honeymoon.

I am halfway done with my program and I think I have a big part of it down: In the classroom: 1. Set expectations with your study group. Keep it at 5 people max. It's also okay for a study group to not work out- the people you socially connect with may not be the people you study best with. 2. You are not going to have time to read everything. If you do not understand a concept in the lecture then visit the book for clarification. 3. Pay attention and note topics the professor stresses during lecture. It will show up on the test. 4. Review your lecture notes after you get home from class while the new material is relatively fresh. It's a good means for repetition. 5. Start studying for an exam at least 2 weeks before. Networking: 6. Talk to a member of the class ahead of your own. They have walked through where you find yourself and can answer anything from how to handle an instructor's personality to clinical expectations. Clinicals: *7. Do not show that you are nervous by any means. Clinical instructors feed off your fears and will make your life miserable. You need to play the part. 8. Review your skills book the night before. Chances are you will visit the hospital the day before clinicals to choose your patients. Review what you need to know about your patients- meds, procedures, disease process, lab values. 9. Always complete a dosage calculation before your instructor asks you to. This shows you're on top of your game. 10. Teaching- you should have an idea of what your client needs to learn. Be prepared to answer this question from your instructor as well.

I wonder how many people made it to the selection pool...I got in. This is the 8th school I apply to after completing most of my pre-reqs two years ago. I already have a bachelor's so I applied to all kinds of programs- entry master's, second bachelor's, accelerated this. I even took a leave of absence from work to have time to study. It's fierce out there! Clenggg, congrats on the LVN program. My nephew is half way done with his LVN. Have you heard of the online bridge program (BSN) with Indiana State University? It's approved by the CA Board of Registered Nursing, http://www.rn.ca.gov/schools/onlineprograms.shtml. To everyone else, please don't be discouraged! I had already decided I didn't have the energy to apply for the upcoming fall if I didn't get in. I even booked a flight for Labor Day weekend yesterday expecting yet another rejection. Things can change from one day to another. Thank god for travel insurance! haha

Did anyone receive an acceptance email out there? :balloons:

Good luck everyone! Now I'm dreading coming home to the mail box.

Hi clenggg, Have you heard back from the program? I received the general email from the main office a week ago stating that they're still in the review process.

I'm so glad you responded! I am waiting for my last transcript to arrive and will turn in my application in person tomorrow. With the TEAS, I have the ATI study manual and McGraw Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams book. I heard the ATI manual was a good review for everything but the science portion. I took a dignostic test with McGraw and have been focusing on the math portion. I also need to brush up on grammar (ie what's a adverb, type of conjuction). I did well on the science except for physics (have never taken a physics class). Although I read on a thread on here that the TEAS V does not have much physics nor geology. What about you? How do you feel about the study material? Are your friends enjoying the program? I tried to research how many applications they usually recieve and didn't find anything. Do you know?

Hi! I am hoping there's someone out there applying to Pierce College. I recently found out about their program (ironically, I am from the San Fernando Valley and have been driving across counties for pre-reqs). I am scheduled to take the TEAS V on March 28th with them. Anyone else? I'd love to hear from you!