Short Interview, help please

schack · Apr 9, 2010

what are the daily duties of your job? i work l&d, pp or nursery as needed and help with outpts.

what hours do you work? i work 7a to 7p right now but will be switching to 11p-7a in a couple of months.

did you have to take any special courses/classes to be in the line of nursing that you are in? i have taken a lot of additional hospital based classes since i was hired, including nrp and stable.

what does your day consist of as a nurse? if i am with a labor pt. i start with an assessment of pt, including reviewing the efm strip. i may have to start an iv. i give any needed medications (atb, pitocin, pain meds, etc.). i do a lot of teaching. then, on a good day, i assist with a delivery. at my facility we recovery both mom and baby. then i either flip to pp and keep my pts or pass them off and get a new labor pt and start over.

who do you work with on a daily basis? i work with other rn's, a unit clerk, a nursing assistant, charge nurse, ob, anesthesia, pharmacy and sometimes resp. therapy.

do you work with the same team of people everyday? nope.

who do you communicate with on a daily basis?everyone.

how do you keep the communication open with those that you work with everyday? i am respect to everyone and i expect the same in return. we utilize an sbar sheet to help with good communication skills.

how do you and the others that you work with keep the communication open between each other? see above answer.

how does the communication differ with a patient and a patient's family? i have to speak differently with pts and families. typically, they do not have a medical background, so all communication has to be in away that is clear to them. and that can differ from pt to pt. i also have to remember, even when speaking with "medical" people- ob is foreign to almost everyone who doesn't work in it! i have to be flexible!

i hope this helps you! good luck. :nurse:

fungez · Apr 10, 2010

Hi my name is Jennifer. I am currently a college student at NVC in San Antonio and trying to get into nursing school. I am taking a speech class and my professor has asked us to interview someone who has the job we would like once we are finished with school. I want to go into labor and delivery nursing once I am finished with school, I have always known that I wanted to work with children in the nursing field. Is there anyone who would mind answering a few questions on communication and your job? I would greatly appreciate any help. I will post the questions below, if there is anyone willing to help me out and answer them. Thanks!

What are the daily duties of your job? I work med surge

What hours do you work? 7a-7p

Did you have to take any special courses/classes to be in the line of nursing that you are in? nope

What does your day consist of as a nurse? let's see.... first thing I poke my head in all my rooms and make sure they're breathing. then I start passing meds, because administration wants them in a certain window. Then I go back and do an assesment (ask how they're doing, listen to lung and bowel sounds, check the iv and drips, etc.) In the course of the day I monitor the patients I have and continue to give schedueld and as needed meds. I'll usually do a discharge and get an admit. I keep the doctor appraised of patients needs and any major change in status.

Who do you work with on a daily basis? other nurses, hopefully a tech, hopefully a unit clerk and physicians

Do you work with the same team of people everyday?nope

Who do you communicate with on a daily basis? see two questions above, as well as the patient

How do you keep the communication open with those that you work with everyday? I told face to fact with nurses and patients, I typically web-page docs

How do you and the others that you work with keep the communication open between each other? we try to stay pleasant so we can stand to talk to each other

How does the communication differ with a patient and a patient's family? well, I have to ask the patient permission before I talk to family, otherwise it's pretty much the same

txcwglangel · Apr 10, 2010

Thank you so much. I really appreciate both of your responses. :)

txcwglangel · Apr 10, 2010

Would either of you mind if I asked your names to include in my interview portfolio? If not, I completely understand. Thank you once again for your help.

athena55, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2010

what are the daily duties of your job?

i am a staff nurse in a combined intensive care unit, currently deployed to iraq. i work in a csh (combat support hospital)

what hours do you work?

usually 12 hours, night shift and six nights in a row with one night off (if patient acuity is low)

did you have to take any special courses/classes to be in the line of nursing that you are in?

i have my ccrn and i also have my asi (additional skill identifier) of 8a which = critical care nurse in the army

what does your day consist of as a nurse?

usually working the unit, or going out on a flight if the patient needs to be medevac-ed to another in country csh

who do you work with on a daily basis?

other army nurses 66h8a, lpns 68wm5, and army physicians (plus x-ray, lab, pharmacy)

do you work with the same team of people everyday?

yes

who do you communicate with on a daily basis?

not sure what you mean by this

how do you keep the communication open with those that you work with everyday?

again, not sure what you are aiming for here. what do you mean by this? smile....

how do you and the others that you work with keep the communication open between each other?

see above

how does the communication differ with a patient and a patient's family?

if the patient is a host nation patient then we use interpreters. if the patient is a wounded servicemember, then we go through the company commander or 1st sgt or the american red cross/dod

good luck on your paper!

NurseNora, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2010

What are the daily duties of your job?I take care of women in labor. I see them when they first come to the hospital to see if they are in labor and identify any developing problems with mother or baby. During labor I do many medical procedures like starting IVs, drawing blood for lab studies, taking vital signs, administering medication, applying and interpreting the fetal monitor or using other methods of checking of the well being of the fetus. I do a lot of teaching: how to cope with the sensations of labor, what is happening in the woman's body during labor, sometimes I have an opportunity to teach about infant care, breast feeding and other such things. Most women in labor aren't ready for teaching about the baby, but sometimes they are. I help the mom position herself for optimum progress in labor and comfort. I assist the Anesthesia provider if the patient gets an epidural and monitor the epidrual through out the rest of the labor. When the baby is born, I assist her with positioning and pushing, help the doctor gown for the delivery, receive the infant from the doctor, dry and stimulate it, do weight and measurments on the baby, put in eye medication and give the baby Vitamin K and Hepatitis B shots, help the mother breast feed for the first time, give the baby a bath, involve both parents as much as possible with the baby, showing them reflexes and responses and giving them the opportunity to get to know their baby. After the delivery is finished, I take vital signs every 15 min for an hour or so and make sure the mother is not bleeding too much. I make sure she empties her bladder before it gets too full, get her cleaned up and take her and her baby to the Post Partum floor. Sometimes I'll stay with that couplet (mom and baby) and continue caring for them for the rest of my shift. Sometimes I pass them on to another nurse and return to L&D for another labor patient.

I may also care for women who are having trouble with their pregnancy, premature labor, blood pressure problems, that kind of thing.

What hours do you work?I work 6pm to 6am, usually Saturday and Sunday nights

Did you have to take any special courses/classes to be in the line of nursing that you are in?I had to take classes in fetal monitoring. AWHONN, the professional organization for OB nurses has a basic, intermediate, and advanced class and they are required for L&D nurses at my hospital. It wasn't required, but I also took the course to be certified to teach these courses. NRP is about newborn recussication, STABLE is for small hospitals that send sick babies to hospitals that care for the sick ones and teaches little hospitals like mine to stabilize the sick baby for transport. CPR (basic life support) and ACLS (advanced cardiac life support), is required of us. We do Cesarean SEctions in our L&D unit and had to take lots of classes in how to work in the sterile setting of an OR and how to recover a patient after surgery when we started doing our own sections last year. When you first start at a hospital there are classes about the hospital and various things about working there that every hospital requires. Many states require a certain number of continuing education credits for an RN to keep her license. Hospitals offer some programs to help their employees get CEUs, and there are Nursing Conferences all over the country offering CEUs.

What does your day consist of as a nurse?In L&D, it really varies. Tonight, at this moment, there are no women in labor so I'm answering you. At anytime someone may come in in labor, ready to deliver, bleeding and needing an immediate Cesarean Section, having a seizure, or in false labor. I joke that pregnant women have a herd instinct, so when someone comes in, often several will come in within a short time. Sometimes we're busy at the beginning of the shift and deliver everyone; sometimes we're busy to start with and stay that way through out the night. One of the things I like about L&D is that you never know just what to expect.

Who do you work with on a daily basis?Nurses, unit secetaries, techs, housekeeping, doctors, sometimes medical students, respiratory therapy.

Do you work with the same team of people everyday?I work with the same job titles, but not necessarily the same individuals each day. Since I work night shift I don't see the administrators and hospital and departmental higher-ups that the day shift people do.

Who do you communicate with on a daily basis?Same as above in addition to patients and their families

How do you keep the communication open with those that you work with everyday?Ideally, we all treat each other with respect and professionalism. People that work together frequently will often go to breakfast after an especially bad night to decompress and swap tales of what went on. We vent a little and are better able to go home and sleep

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How does the communication differ with a patient and a patient's family?Sometimes a patient hasn't informed her family of all of her obstetrical history, so I have to find out privately what they know about any drug use, sexually transmitted diseases, abortions or previous pregnancies and make sure to maintain her privacy. I help the family with things they can do to help her and make her more comfortable. Sometimes I have to get the family out of her room so she can rest or to tell them that what they are doing is not helping and is in fact hindering her. I have told patients that if necessary I will be the "bad guy" and tell the family they have to leave if she wants them out, but doesn't want to be the one to tell them to leave. In labor, a woman needs short, quick answers and instructions (in hard labor), but I may go into more detail with the family. A lot of my communication with my patient is nonverbal, touching, eye contact, but with the family, most of it is verbal

txcwglangel · Apr 11, 2010

Thank you so much for your responses! I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. :)