Pamela67

Hello, I am looking for some different information on the policy for magnesium sulfate for the use in pre-eclampsia and pre-term labor. For example, our policy states to do BP's every 30 minutes while the patient is on magnesium. This is not the bolus but during the maintenence dosing. Is this overkill? I would appreciate some ideas or even copies of your policy. Thanks!

Hi, On the floor I usually work on, OB, we do not use taped report. However, I have to float to all areas in the hospital and they do taped report. I do not care for it. The division of patients may be different on the next shift and sometimes you have to get report off of two or three different machines. I find this to be very time comsuming. I would prefer to get it from the nurse and be able to ask questions if needed.

I work in a facility that does around 500 to 600 deliveries a year. We have a level II nursery. You are not alone! They are wanting us to have only one RN and two LPN for a base staff and float the rest of the nurses, or nurse, out to somewhere else in the hospital. Sometimes we don't even get that nurse back. We don't have in-house anesthesia or OB doctor at night. We just have an in-house intern and the ER department. We also have several nurses who live 45 minutes or more from the hospital. All of our RN's do L & D, postpartum, antepartum and nursery. The LPN's do postpartum and nursery. We are going through several changes in our department and it has been very stressful. The most important issue I try to remember is the patient safty. Just recently I refused to start a pitocin induction on a patient while I was in the middle of a delivery. Believe it or not the physician was upset. I did start it about 1 1/2 hours after it was going to be started initially. I just did not feel it was safe to start an induction that I could not watch. There was no one else to do it. This induction was elective. She just lived one hour away and had a history of fast deliveries. Good luck with your situation! It is nice to know that I am not alone.

It is not mandatory to have ACLS in our L & D. I do have my certification because I like to keep up some of my knowledge and skills in this area. In my facility I am required to float to other areas all throughout the hospital and have been put in some situations that could require that knowledge.

The physicians would like for us to perform this procedure so they don't have to come in, especially at night, to determine the next course of action. I am concerned about the liability of this. I am curious to know if other facilties have RN's performing this procedure.

In the facilty I work for, the physicians are wanting the registered nurses to perform sterile speculum exams for ferning and ect.. I am wanting to know if this is a standard practice in other facilties for nurses.