IrishItalianRN

We do have a report sheet that has a lot of information. At the bottom of the moms side it has medical hx and that is where elevated BP's, GDM, etc goes. On the baby side we have 4 spaces for blood sugars to be entered so it should be a reminder to them that it needed to be done. right? I know that the poor report needs to be brought up to management so that we can get that straightened out but I think I'm going to talk to some of my L/D friends and see what their complaints are so I have both sides of the problem. I know some of the problem is the budget like I mentioned before. Staffing issues and the pressure to move patients. I'd like to take it to management objectively as a concern for both units not just my own... for the most part we have a really great team (antepartum, L/D, postpartum, NICU, well baby) and I would like to see intervention now before it's total division! lol I was thinking about getting this one friend in particular together to order some small items like nursing pens, pins, bookmarks and putting together appreciation bags that PP would give to L/D and vice versa... I would get PP involved and she could get L/D involved. Maybe making up a quick poem that would describe L/D thoughts on us and PP on them... does that make sense? Sounds a little corny now that I wrote it all out! lol

Klone, The postpartum nurses sometimes feel like the report they receive is less than adequate. Sometimes we go into the patient records to find the patient was Gestational diabetic, had elevated BP's, blood sugars were never done on the infant when it was appropriate such as with the GDM mom ... things like that. I probably need to talk to my friends in L/D to find out specifically what it is that bothers them from their standpoint, but from my observations some L/D nurses get irritated when they want to bring the patient to the floor and there is resistance for one reason or another. I think sometimes L/D thinks that all the hard work is over and postpartum has the easy job. On the other side I don't think all PP nurses realize the pressure L/D is under at times to get the patients to postpartum. Management pushing them because they need the bed, the nurse wanting to get dinner (understandable!) , sometimes there is no reason... BOTH departments have a very important role in the patient experience and I'd like to get the departments to appreciate each others role. We are a busy unit we deliver around 300 babies a month sometimes less, usually more. Our nurses don't float for the most part. Sometimes Postpartum helps with recoveries if we have an extra nurse and sometimes L/D is floated to PP if we are short but other than that there is no consistent floating between departments. We are hired for our specific department.

I had " Ziggy " last week... The parents were so adorable that it just fit the baby so well if it had been anyone else I would have worried about them! lol

My suggestion would be to ask questions in your interview. I think sometimes people are afraid to ask the interviewer questions but they love it! Plus it's your license you have to protect. -Make sure that you will be given an adequate orientation period. -Ask about training, where i work if you don't have L/D experience they send you to an academy to learn specifically about L/D... You have to learn fetal monitoring, ACLS etc etc if they don't talk about these things in the interview ask about it... I work in postpartum and haven't made the switch yet... that was my goal in the beginning but I really enjoy spending time with my patients, especially the new teen moms, I like the teaching. If I work more than one day in a row as I usually do, I get them back too so it's nice continuity of care... one day I'll take the leap! Good luck to you! I think OB is so rewarding and I love going to work everyday!

I have been working in Postpartum since 2007 when I graduated nursing school. Recently I started noticing a division between our labor & delivery staff and our postpartum staff. I noticed this when I was in nursing school between these two units at several different hospitals but was surprised when I started at my job that everyone seemed to be part of the same team. The only reason I can come up with for this (because we pretty much have the same staff we did back when I started) is that management has come down harder on us in the last few months regarding the budget. They are calling staff off to save money and what it comes down to is we all feel the burden of being somewhat short staffed. I was sitting here trying to think of things I could do to bring the moral between the departments back up. I was thinking about emailing the director (I have a pretty good relationship with her) and sharing my thoughts about the moral between the departments being down and that I've noticed it happening since the budget came into focus. I don't want her to feel that this is a complaint about the budget but rather a sincere concern about the staff. I would like to have some ideas to take to her and our shared leadership team. Do any of you have the same problem on your units and what ideas do you have to bridge this gap that is starting to form? Thanks!

I am starting the MSN in Leadership with GCU July 27th. I graduated in May from the RN-BSN program at GCU and loved it. I had heard negative stories but decided to go with GCU because it was 100% online and worked with my schedule. Plus I get tuition reimbursement and a discount for working with Banner. I had a really good experience. My guidance counselor answers my questions (which I do all by email so I have a paper trail) and she answers them in a timely manner. I was thinking about going into an MSN program and decided to go with GCU again because I did have such a good experience. They have a scholarship right now for alumni called the "welcome back scholarship". It pays for the first class tuition and books. I am planning on taking the first class and then doubling up after that to get done faster.