Hi, i dont know how many of u know me, but i started working PP in january after working on a medical floor for 6 mths. anyway, i had 2 questions..
1) i was thinking about orienting in L&D.. i was just wondering how long it takes to catch on to -i guess -"guesstimating" ?? how the labor process is going (as far as dil/eff/station) because i mean, how do u know what numbers to give what you feel? get my drift?? i guess it just takes practice?
and 2) as far as PP.. do alot of you all get medical overflow on your floor? we have been getting a lot more medicals lately and we hate it! we are OB nurses!!! we want to work with OB patients!!!! the other night we had 12 pts and only 5 were ours (OB.) but anyway, just wondered how the other hospitals out there were.
Everyone giving great advice...Just a thought..We all get medical overflow and it isn't wonderful but remember this. You may be an OB nurse but you are a nurse first....In the old days we had to first do at least a year of med surg for a reason, not because we ever expected to get so many medical overflow people, but because all the things, good, bad and horrible, that can possible occur with medical patients ( with exceptions of penile/prostate problems lol), can and do occur with OB/GYN patients. They stroke out, have Mi's, pneumonia, AIDs, surgery with resultant complications, diabetes, depression, cancer,psychosocial issues,bad attitudes,sad stories, critical illness..In fact, I have said this before but delivery is the scariest (albeit coolest) place I have ever worked and I have ICU/ER background. So, you may be a good or potentially good OB nurse, but you will never be a great one unless you ( and I hate cliches) think outside the box...Use these medical overflow patients as learning experiences vs being overly frustrated by them....Good luck in Labor and delivery. It surely takes time and if you make a mistake just treat it as a lesson....Everyone will be helping out someone so motivated as you seem to be...Take care and welcome!
mother/babyRN, RN
3 Articles; 1,587 Posts
Everyone giving great advice...Just a thought..We all get medical overflow and it isn't wonderful but remember this. You may be an OB nurse but you are a nurse first....In the old days we had to first do at least a year of med surg for a reason, not because we ever expected to get so many medical overflow people, but because all the things, good, bad and horrible, that can possible occur with medical patients ( with exceptions of penile/prostate problems lol), can and do occur with OB/GYN patients. They stroke out, have Mi's, pneumonia, AIDs, surgery with resultant complications, diabetes, depression, cancer,psychosocial issues,bad attitudes,sad stories, critical illness..In fact, I have said this before but delivery is the scariest (albeit coolest) place I have ever worked and I have ICU/ER background. So, you may be a good or potentially good OB nurse, but you will never be a great one unless you ( and I hate cliches) think outside the box...Use these medical overflow patients as learning experiences vs being overly frustrated by them....Good luck in Labor and delivery. It surely takes time and if you make a mistake just treat it as a lesson....Everyone will be helping out someone so motivated as you seem to be...Take care and welcome!