Question - For anyone who is already a ob nurse or working at a hospital in L&D

[Iwannabeababynurse]

i have a question for anyone who is already a ob nurse or already works in l&d or in the nursrey at a hospital. what happens if your in the middle of helping a woman in delivery, or in the middle of examing the patient, or in the middle of taking care of a baby in the nursery and you need to use the bathroom real bad or you become sick and really need to use the bathroom?? how do you or when do you excuse yourself??the reason why i asked is that this is the department i want to work for if i ever get thru school.and the other reason why i ask is i have a really weird stomach i think it might be a case of ibs or nervous stomach sorry for the tmi. and that i've got a really small bladder. so when i need to go i really need to go again sorry for the tmi.so i was just wondering how everyone handles it the problem??

[SmilingBluEyes]

If in the middle of such a situation and I have to excuse myself, I put on the call light or call for a coworker to come in and relieve me for just a few minutes. When I was pregnant with my dd, I had a LOT of nausea and vomiting and bowel issues. I just used to tell my coworkers, when a patient was pushing for example, if the call light comes on, it's me and could you please relieve me? They understood. Clear communication is the key. We are all human after all.

Does this help?

[LightningRN]

I used to be anxious about the same issues, I also have frequent upset stomach. I have never been in a situation when I couldn't find someone to relieve me for a few minutes. It happens .. and it happens to everyone. It happened more often when I was a brand new nurse, I think anxiety makes my issues much worse. Once I settled in to the job and started feeling comfortable it didn't happen as frequently. Don't stress yourself about it.

[HappyNurse2005, RN]

I make sure to use the bathroom and get a short drink before starting pushing. even if i have to tell the pt I have to go get their chart or make something up to get out for a minute.