Question for L&D nurses

[eden]

I feel silly asking but I just started a job a month ago so since no question is ever a stupid one here goes. I do fairly well in the area of VE's in terms of dilatation but am having a hard time figuring out effacement. How can I tell how thick the cervix is??? I love it but now am starting to question whether I should have switched jobs. Any advice

[babyktchr, BSN, RN]

Oh honey, give yourself time. At this point..thick vs. thin is descriptive enough. As you examine more people, you will get the hang of effacement. If you put a piece of paper on a table and run your finger over it, the difference in the feeling is 100%. Sometimes it is hard to feel, and you have to run your finger inside the cervix to get your dilation. A thick cervix feels like you just put your finger into jello or something. I get a kick out of some providers that say there are 65% or 85% effaced. I actually had a prenatal record that said the cervix was 2.83% dilated, and that was by digital exam. How exact can one get????????

You will get it. Don't give up. I still come out of rooms and wonder what I felt up there.

[eden]

Thanks for your response, the reason I asked is that the last time I worked the doctor looked at me as if I has grown a second head when I couldn't tell her the pt's effacement. I told I had just started and she was not impressed.