Caseyrnbsn

Hello Everyone, Cost Savings.....We are at it again in our department....Does anyone out there have any suggestions? We have become pretty good at cost savings and I cannot think of anymore. We have eliminated our maternity care pack, perineal ice packs(we now make our own), limited 2 pairs of net panties per patient, and so on.....We now have to pay for glucose water and sterile water (the formula compaies now charge for this). I just thought I would drop a line here to see if anyone had any suggestions. Please feel free to drop any suggestions at all....I will gladly take them..... Thanks :)

:balloons: hello to anyone who reads this post i am an experienced nurse who has worked in a variety of areas except the intensive care realm and cardiac land.. most of my experience is in maternity care in l/d, postpartum, level i & ii nursery, gyne, circulator and scrub nurse (for c-sections and post-partum tubals) and pediatrics. some general med-surg and iv team (before picc lines were used at the facilities i worked in). i am soon to be 39yrs old and free to go work anywhere. i have worked casual position at other hospitals. i am self reliant, knowledgable in my practice, and can act quickly in emergency situations. my children are grown and moving out and in my area the hospitals are merging and closing many maternity departments. i am looking into traveling nursing in the maternity care setting. i know nothing about travel nursing and would like some guidance on what to ask and who is a reputable company to contact. are there any travel nurse companies that deal specifically with obstetrical practice? any information or direction in the right way would be appreciated. i have only met one traveling nurse in the past and she loved it, but it was a brief encounter and it a very long time ago. thanks again!

I have only ever worked with a Doula a few times. It was great! I wish we had more of them in the area. Unfortunately we do not. I was thinking of becoming certified and starting the service. I love being a L/D nurse but the thought of not charting and giving someone my undivided attention is very tempting. I have to look into it further.

We take on call time at our level II facility. We schedule 4/4/4. Our call time consists of 3p - 7a coverage. We are required to take 8-12 hours per pay period (every 2 weeks). We cover 7 days a week. We do not cover daylight shift becasue it is easier to get people into work on daylight hours than off shift hours. Full time and part time take call time. Pay is time and a half if called in then if called in between the hours of 11p and 5a it is double time and a half. We get $2.50/hr just to be on call. We are a LDRP setup and also we do our own C/sections and Post-partum tubals. That is why we schedule 4/4/4 also we run a Level II nursery. I hope this helps.

Any policies on IV push terbutaline for intrauterine resuscitation? I have not yet been able to find any. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Karen

Thanks for the info Denise. We re all excited about using the new system.

Hi All! My name is Karen and I work as a L/D nurse on an LDRP unit. Our Nurse Manager has selected a new monitoring system called OB TraceVue. Has anyone worked with type of computerized Fetal Monitoring system? Any likes or dislikes? What are the benefits and what are the draw backs? Any tips for using the system? This is all new to us. Thanks for any input. Karen

Hi Teresa, I work in an LDRP setting. Administration believe you me gets the "most bang for it's buck". In this type of setting we are all cross trained. With high census everyone is DR and the post-partum nurse is everything. It can be very exhausting. We are all assigned an area at the start of the shift but you never know where you may find yourself. Most of the time it is a wonderful arrangement but there are trying times. In an LDR setup you are strictly DR or postpartum. Weigh the differences and staffing ratios carefully aloong with back up plans for high census and the acuity level of the facility you are going to be employed at. I hope this helps. Karen

I am in great need of where to go find written policy and procedures for the OB setting. Any hints on where to go would greatly be appreciated. CYTOTEC is one that I am looking for right now amooong others .Thanks for any replies. Karen

Hello everyone! Is your institution being required or suggesting that L/D nurses be certified in ACLS ? We just went Through Joint Commision survey and this is what they were implying. Any comments or information will greatly be appreciated.

I ssay go for it. I too think this is wonderful. But as said in the previous posting some women will refuse you and also be uncomfortable. We have no male L/D nurses. I think most of the public perception has been that women attend to women iin childbirth siince the begining of time. This needs to change. I think a male in L/D would be and could be a great asset. We have a few male Nurses in a NICU where I used to work and they parents loved them. I hope you continue and go on with what you desire. It may be hard but well worth it. I truly love what I do and each birth is truly a grand event and a wondrous miracle of life Good Luck and God Bless Karen.