So I thought I would ask if you guys can share...

Katie71275 · Sep 6, 2015

Straight out of nursing school. I graduated May 2013, started in L&D in end of June 2013. I worked at a teaching facility and LOVED it. worked there for just under a year and then relocated to a bigger city/bigger hospital in L&D.

Race Mom, ASN, RN · Sep 7, 2015

NICU position offered before graduation. Only stayed there 5 months (orientation completion). It was NOT a good fit at the time. Hit the streets and visited local hospitals. One LDRP was not locked down and I was nervous to enter the unit so I was turning around to go home and submit my app when one unit nurse asked if I needed help finding someone. I told her I was an RN looking into hospitals for a position in L&D. She gladly toured me around the unit and gave my name to the Director. The Director called me, interviewed me, and secretly told me that she was going to pass me onto HR for a formal offer. I worked there for 4 years, as well as returning to the NICU during that time (working both hospitals at the same time). I then wanted a change from hospital life and night shift and went into hospice nursing. I am now exhausted in hospice nursing and began to appreciate the 12 hour shifts and my continued love for mother/baby (reason for having my interest in Nursing). I start back at the hospital in a few weeks and I am excited! It has been a long time since I could say that.

Postpartum RN · Sep 8, 2015

Katie- wow that's great straight out of school!

Race mom- what a story! Lol that's great that nurse was so helpful

iPink, BSN, RN · Sep 8, 2015

I first got into critical care, which was tough but it was the best foundation for me in learning how to be a good nurse. However it wasn't a specialty I wanted to stay in for too long. Fast forward a year later and I got the opportunity to transfer to the Mother/Baby unit. I've now been here for almost 2 years and I plan to be a postpartum nurse for awhile before I leave bedside nursing and transfer to a different department within my hospital.

Sent via iPink's phone using allnurses

SA_RN · Sep 8, 2015

Passed NCLEX on 7/13. I had my first interview for a med surg unit on 7/24: wanted it because I wanted a job ASAP and the pay was $70, not including differentials. But it wasn't the unit I wanted and it was 1.5 hours away from my house (not including traffic). I didn't get offered the job anyways.

Went out of the country for 3 weeks in August. Only applied to 2 jobs that were RN Residency Programs. Come back to CA and get a call for an interview for the birthing center. Interviewed the following week, got a call and accepted the offer the next day. I start in October at an awesome teaching hospital, couldn't ask for anything more :)

Calinurse4 · Sep 8, 2015

Graduated in May of 2012, started an internship in MBU that fall but they weren't hiring after. It took me until September of 2013 to land a job in L&D as a new grad. I was there about a year and a half but it just wasn't a good fit for me. I've now been in MBU at a different hospital for 6 months and I'm much happier.

Postpartum RN · Sep 8, 2015

SA RN, that's a very high rate for a new grad! Which area or chain of hospitals is this in California? In sacramento area most new grads start around $51 give or take in the big hospital systems here, before differentials

SA_RN · Sep 9, 2015

Postpartum RN: it was kaiser new grad program in Santa Clara. I was extremely surprised with pay rate I talk to a nurse with 7+ experience and she was barely making that much.

somedayCNM, CNM · Sep 10, 2015

In 2010 I took a full-time job in my hospital's oncology/medical unit, but I always knew L&D is where I wanted to be. I kept my eyes open for a position and a supplemental one opened up in 2011, but taking it meant I would lose my benefits including my family's health insurance. The manager of L&D let me keep my old position on the onco unit part-time and orient to L&D for 16 hrs a week (the typical orientation would have been full-time for three months). This was not an ideal way to start L&D. My orientation took seven months and I had 12 different preceptors. It's a major critical thinking shift between med-surg and L&D and it would have been better for me to make a clean break from my old job. Not long after that L&D had a full-time position opened up and I took it. I've been full-time nights here for more than three years now. Love it, but it was hard work to get to where I am. I'm very grateful to have gotten the chance to get my foot in the door when I did.

kjjonesRN · Sep 11, 2015

I started in L&D right out of nursing school. I graduated December 2014 and was shocked to actually hear from one of the managers of an L&D position I had applied for. I accepted a .8N, 8-hour shift job on a busy and high acuity L&D unit and started March 2015. Its been a real challenging transition for me since I have moved to nights. I love my co-workers and have really started to get a flow with the job, but I'm actually on the verge of accepting an offer for a .75D/N 12-hour shift on a smaller, less intense L&D unit closer to my house. The frequency of .8, 8-hour nights was just too much, so I'm hoping that a new shift can help give me more balance in my personal life.

Barkow · Sep 11, 2015

I was able to secure an LDRP job before graduation. It was in a rural area near where I went to nursing school, but found out after working there a bit that there were huge problems between the nurse manager and staff, and several long-time nurses had recently quit, so the manager was hiring new grads to get bodies in to replace them. I stuck it out for two years and I was glad to gain skills in all intrapartum areas, which made me very marketable to future jobs.