Ok I’m going to be honest and prime my response with this: I read it all halfway through, and then skimmed. So take it as you will!
I think based on what you said you miss from tele (apart from the “elderly” pt part!) that you may be a better fit for L&D. I say that as an L&D nurse who routinely gets floated to PP. I started in L&D so I have nothing else to compare to other than my floats to PP. But let me tell you, when I am floated to PP i am bored to death out of my mind 98% of the time. It is a very task-y type job, with the things you described (breastfeeding, the baby is “hiccuping” etc) seeming so dull and repetitive. As someone who doesn’t even do PP on a regular basis, I am consistently far ahead of my other PP coworkers in terms of charting and being on top of whatever needs to be done that shift.
For example, I am starting my 2nd assessments when they are just sitting down to start their 1st. At first I thought maybe I was just doing it wrong? But after speaking to other L&D nurses (most of which started in PP), it just all comes down to time management. I find myself on PP pulling up the L&D fetal strips just to have something to do/look at while at the nurses station! In a way, I imagine those fetal strips would make you feel at home with your tele experience. We are constantly watching strips, even those that are not our own!
Things can change in an instant in L&D. I have run to another nurses room when the baby is down to the 60s only to have the heart tones back up to normal by the time I open the door. And on the flip side, I have ran down that hallway to a baby in the 60s and had to help roll that pt back to the OR with baby tones not coming back up all and we are just praying for a decent outcome.
I always thought I wanted to take the path of school> PP > L&D. And many people argue this is the best path to go! But my own experience is that of being so thankful that I went straight to L&D, where my heart is, and where I am constantly being challenged.
Now, if you’ve made it through reading my whole response (and not skimming!) I’d say give it some time and then decide. Give at least 6 months before deciding anything major. Ask if you can shadow L&D. Ultimately, then you can figure out where you will be happiest!
