Starting L&D! Any suggestions to make it easier?

nursehottie · May 4, 2005

Hi! I am starting L&D next week - the course is 6 weeks this summer.
Any advice or tricks of the trade would greatly be appreciated. Our instructor is great! I have already had her for other courses, so I am lucky there.
But I am single, 41 and have never had any kids - so I am at a bit of a loss with first hand experience.
Can ya'll give me any helpful hints for L&D?
Thanks............K

L&D was one of my favorite courses! It's so much fun. I had never seen a baby born, or even changed a diaper until this semester. So, it was fun for me...and I was nervous too, b/c so many women in my class had children. It's exciting, I can't think of any hints though. Just jump in whenever you can, and treat the mother, father, and the family very very nicely.

Iluvhospice · May 4, 2005

K,

If you L&D rotation is anything like mine, you have nothing to worry about. It was a great experience to practice skills - IV starts, in & out caths and foleys, etc - but we were not allowed to give any meds to pregnant patients. We also got to stand and hand things during delivery, but we didn't actually participate much. Mother/Baby was just like med/surg - lots of pill passing, foley d/c, assessing, etc. Doing an assessment on a newborn is the neatest thing I've ever done. We did get to put eye meds in the newborns and give them their Vitamin K and hepatitis shots - that was not fun, but necessary:uhoh21: !

I hope you have as good an experience as I did. I got my first unofficial job offer from the mother/baby floor. I won't be finished until October though, but I'm seriously considering that for my area. I loved it!

Take care, Sarah

mitchsmom · May 5, 2005

Hi! I am starting L&D next week - the course is 6 weeks this summer.
Any advice or tricks of the trade would greatly be appreciated. Our instructor is great! I have already had her for other courses, so I am lucky there.
But I am single, 41 and have never had any kids - so I am at a bit of a loss with first hand experience.
Can ya'll give me any helpful hints for L&D?
Thanks............K

I'm starting next week for 6 weeks also!! (Then I have 6 wks of peds).

I have three kids & I aspire to work in L&D but would still love to see more advice too :)

klone, MSN, RN · May 5, 2005

We did get to put eye meds in the newborns and give them their Vitamin K and hepatitis shots - that was not fun, but necessary:uhoh21: !

Well, that's debatable. :)

Iluvhospice · May 5, 2005

Ok, you're right - let me clarify...

We gave them their eye meds/vitamin K by virtue of state law - but the hepatitis WAS optional, and only if the parents requested it!

It still wasn't fun - either way you look at it! :)

Have a wonderful day!

klone, MSN, RN · May 5, 2005

Just to clarify, in case this should ever come up during someone's clinical experience. It's state law that the hospital has to OFFER those things (abx eye drops, Vitamin K, metabolic testing, etc.) but it's not law that the parents have to accept it. They can refuse any procedure or test to their newborn, and once in a while you may have parents who will do so. They are within their rights. Just thought I would mention that.

:)

Iluvhospice · May 5, 2005

Point taken - thanks for clarifying.

AKAKatydid · May 5, 2005

I'm starting "Maternity Nursing" next week... It's a 7 week course.

According to the syllabus, we cover things like breastfeeding, infertility, reproductive disorders, discomforts of pregnancy... etc along with Labor & Delivery.

Do your courses cover this too? Or are we getting this spread out way too thin? I'm kinda thinking that you really aren't getting to LEARN it, as much as you are getting a TASTE of it in 7 weeks...

What do you guys think?

Iluvhospice · May 5, 2005

We did basically the same - but in 5 weeks.

You can do it. Once you start, it all falls into place. Yes, you're just getting a taste of it. If you decide that you love it (I did), the real learning will begin when you are oriented to the unit.

Don't worry ~ In my experience, the OB nurses were the nicest I've ever worked with! I hope that's the case for you too. :)

klone, MSN, RN · May 5, 2005

We start our OB lecture in the fall. It's the entire 16 weeks, but it's only once a week for 2 hours. I can't wait - the entire reason why I entered nursing school! The instructor for OB is also VERY cool - one of my two favorite instructors at this school.

mitchsmom · May 5, 2005

We start our OB lecture in the fall. It's the entire 16 weeks, but it's only once a week for 2 hours. I can't wait - the entire reason why I entered nursing school! The instructor for OB is also VERY cool - one of my two favorite instructors at this school.

Same here, very cool lady. AND she has an IBCLC come in to speak on the breastfeeding part