Specializing as a new nurse??

[nurse5913]

I recently graduated from nursing school and have been given the opportunity to start out as a Labor and Delivery nurse. I also have a potential job on a Med/Surg floor. I love labor and delivery but I have always heard that you should get Med/Surg experience first before specializing. I feel comfortable starting out in L&D and could see myself working there for years. I have had several people tell me that I should go with the Med/Surg but I don't feel I would be comfortable knowing that I passed up on this rare opening in my hospital's L&D floor. Help!!

[klone, MSN, RN]

If you have a love and passion for L&D, then go for it. Maternal/fetal health is what I really only wanted to do, and I had the opportunity to go into OB as a new grad. I've never regretted it.

[cassie77775]

I chose todo it as well. I went into nursing to do post partum, newborn or l&d. I got offered a pp/nursery gig as my first offer and took it! It's my passion and I figure if you are like me, knowing you will most likely stay in this field for your entire nursing career, then do it!

[monkeybug]

I went straight from nursing school to Labor and Delivery, and it was absolutely the right decision for me. I would have been abjectly miserable in Med/Surg. I honestly don't think that having a Med/Surg background does all that much for you in L&D. The thought processes are so different. When I had pregnant patients with medical issues, I would take a few minutes to do some research, and ask the docs if there was anything I needed to watch for. I didn't miss those signs of sepsis or heart failure in my patients because I didn't have a medical background. I caught on to what was happening because I'm a good nurse.

[Mr Midwife, BSN, RN]

Ditto the above, I regret not taking a neonatal placement because a universitiy mentor said I should consolidate my adult learning for a few years before going into NNU or L&D, this was the worst piece of advice I have ever followed!!

[IamSusan]

I have never done anything but OB and am very happy with the choice. But I went to nursing school because I wanted to go into midwifery.... I might not have even become a nurse if I didn't want to be a CNM.. which I never ended up doing but I still love OB nursing.

My only suggestion is if you think you might someday want to do something besides OB, even perhaps becoming a nursing instructor, then you might want to get that med/surg experience. You will never be more ready for it than you are now. It would be harder for me now as an experienced RN to go to med/surg than it would have been, I suspect, as a new grad. I have seen it done but rarely and painfully. But if you know L+D/OB is home then I don't think the conventional wisdom that you must earn your med/surg wings first is valid.

[PeepnBiscuitsRN]

I'm glad for the year or so I had in cardiac and med surg- taught me the fine art of time management and really broke me in. That said, however, I'd have taken a position in L&D or Mom/Baby in a heartbeat if it were offered right out of the gate.

I can tell you that sometimes (playing devil's advocate here) what we think we want to do isn't really what we expect- I wanted to work in peds, had my heart set on it. Had a taste of it in clinical and in lecture and in reality in having my own children and realized that I couldn't hack it. Thought cardiac would be awesome, and while it was very good experience (I like being able to read and interpret an EKG strip) that too wasn't what I wanted to do. I'm only saying the upside to taking the med surg path is that you would have some skills unique to that field that are valuable that you wouldn't have in OB. I've lost a lot of my med-surgy skills since working in OB. If I wanted to suddenly switch and work in say, surgery, or ER or something like that, I'd have a hard time with skills specific to one area and it would be suggested that I get some time in med-surg.

But once again- if you seriously want to work in L&D, I'd say grab it. It is hard to get in as it is, even with experience, so this is a pretty rare opportunity.

[Leggings and Lattes]

I went into nursing school knowing OB was something I never wanted to do. I later discovered I loved OB, and I scored an intern position, which landed me an l&d job out of nursing school. I never regretted specializing until I started working high risk. I wished I had med/surg experience from time to time. I overcame that, and then I unexpectedly moved out of the U.S. OB is a field that nurses don't work here. I've had a really hard time finding a job. I did end up finding a short term position on post partum while they're recruiting midwives, so for now I have a fix. I never imagined I would be in this position, so be aware that you can't always foresee your future. :)

[monkeybug]

I went into nursing school knowing OB was something I never wanted to do. I later discovered I loved OB, and I scored an intern position, which landed me an l&d job out of nursing school. I never regretted specializing until I started working high risk. I wished I had med/surg experience from time to time. I overcame that, and then I unexpectedly moved out of the U.S. OB is a field that nurses don't work here. I've had a really hard time finding a job. I did end up finding a short term position on post partum while they're recruiting midwives, so for now I have a fix. I never imagined I would be in this position, so be aware that you can't always foresee your future. :)

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