kayemmejayRN

The only advice I have is to work with your preceptor and ask questions if you have an. It takes a year to become comfortable in OB nursing. Good luck!

It does take a year to feel confident in L&D nursing. I am just a year out into it as a new grad nurse. I feel comfortable with most things. For the most part with VE I can only distinguish closed to 3 cm and 8 to complete. It does take practice and even to this day I am still learning. Don't give up. Within a year you will not feel lost trust me.

We use the frozen pads on L&D. On our postpartum unit they use dermaplast spray and warm spray bottles

University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio hires new grads on L&D, postpartum and high risk OB

You could have had the mom reposition left to right or vice versa. It doesn't seem like it was a deceleration. Sometimes when that has happened to me I offer the mom something sweet like apple juice, Popsicles or ginger ale to see if there is a change in variability. Neonates do go through sleep cycles. If the FHR drops below 110 and it has minimal variability for over 20 minutes that's when I begin to worry.

I did my practicum in postpartum because I was told that L&D would not prepare me for NCLEX. I had to fight for postpartum as well. I passed the NCLEX on the first try with 89 questions. I hope you can get in L&D or NICU. Good luck.

The hospital I work for has an L&D unit and PP unit. We are all crossed trained and we float between the units. When a PP nurse floats to L&D they are usually assigned a post partum mag patient. We do not give them our high risk ante partum or laboring patient.

Congratulations on starting an accelerated program and good luck. I finished an accelerated nursing program. Like the other poster wrote, let your instructors know first hand you have an interest in maternal/newborn nursing. I requested to do my practicum in L&D. The school of nursing I attended pushed med/surg and refused to let me do L&D. After much complaining they settled for letting me do postpartum. I worked we'll with my preceptor and she introduced me to the L&D manager at the hospital I did my clinicals. After passing boards I contacted both my preceptor and the L&D manager. I was offered a job in L&D and I love it.

I am a new grad as well. I used to work in health education and HIV prevention.

I have an irrational fear of vomit. I have had patients vomit and retch around me. Sometimes I can stand being in the room with them as long as they are only vomiting stomach contents and not food. Sometimes I will make sure they have a emi-bag or receptacle to vomit in and kindly excuse myself out of the room and wait outside the room until they are done. I usually joke and reassure and apologize to my patient for leaving the room. Some people have different triggers. Mine is I can't stand the smell or sight of vomit.

I just got a job offer today from a job I interviewed and shadowed over a month ago. Sometimes the managers and HR are busy. Sometimes they may be performing background checks. I know it is nerve wrecking but don't give up hope and hang in there.

I agree with Kayla. I landed my first nursing job on a postpartum unit. I did my senior role practicum on a postpartum unit and developed a great rapport with my preceptor. I even went as far as to introduce myself to L&D and PP nurse managers at various hospitals, including the one I did my practicum. I also asked to shadow their units before I applied for jobs. I was offered two jobs one on L&D at the hospital I did my practicum and a PP position at a county hospital. I choose to work at the county hospital because I had the opportunity to float to L&D and NICU. I will admit it is hard to get into OB nursing especially if your school has a strong focus on med/surg nursing but it is possible to land the job of your dreams. Good luck!

I am new to nursing and I just landed a job in PP as well. I had the same fear of not using my clinical skills but I found out you still use them on PP units. Even though it may seem like you have low acuity patients, all babies are not stable on the units. I had a mom o. Friday who was experiencing a postpartum hemorrhage and I had to convince he to receive a blood transfusion. You should see if you can float to NICU. My unit allows me to float to L&D and NICU every six weeks.

I am a new grad nurse starting tomorrow on a postpartum unit. I elected to do my senior year role practicum in postpartum. Many of my nursing school instructors frowned on my decision. They said I needed at least one year of med/surg because I would not know how to care for a postpartum mom who is crashing or a crashing neonate. I landed my dream job by contacting a postpartum nurse manager and I told her where I did my practicum and asked if I could shadow her unit. She agreed and she interviewed me. The nurses on the unit say PP is a hard unit for a new grad to get a position. Most of the nurses o. My unit have been there for 20+ years! I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck.

Try shadowing units.