Student Needing Advice On Going into L&D

[LaLaEm4]

Hi!

I wasn't exactly sure where to post this so please redirect me if I'm clogging up the wrong area!

I am a general studies nursing student right now headed for my ADN. I want to go into L&D (at least that's where I think for the time being-but who knows) and be a travel nurse.

I know that I have to have a year or two of experience at least-before I can travel- but can anyone give me the lowdown on what it takes to be able to say..."My specialty is L&D/ICU/ER/whatever specialty" (I know that sounds silly. But. Oh well) How do you go about getting there, declaring it as your specialty? Thanks for any and all advice in advance!:)

[Penguin67]

Getting an entry level position right out of school in l/d or psotpartum is really up to the agency. Some hire right out of school and some require experience. There are pros and cons to both approaches. For example, hiring you right out of school into l/d means that you will get to work with the specialty area that makes you happy, and job satisfaction is high, but new grads ofetn do not stay around long on their first position. As orientation for l/d is usually lengthy (6-9 months or more), the hospital invests alot to train you, and then if you leave, they lost on that investment, making them shellshocked to hire a new grad again in the future. I've seen that happen. However, job satisfaction can make a happy and productive employee, and that can go a long way in the workforce, too. Some new grads are not ready for l/d, and some are. I'd recommend doing some observation time on a l/d unit, or doing your senior preceptorship on and l/d unit to test the waters.

The con of going into l/d right out of school is that you tend to focus simply on the mom and baby and specific parts (uterus) that you deal with each day. If something unusual comes up, you'd ahve no med-0surg background to draw upon. For example, I've seen OB nurses freak about inserting an NG tube, and postpartum nurses confused about medications for someone with abnormal liver functions, becasue they didn't experience a broad med-surg backgroud prior to OB. I'm not a proponent of this philosophy. I would like to hire people into positions that they want, not train them while they wait on the position of their dreams to allow them to apply when they have med-surg experience.

You can claim a specialty area after one of a few thigns happens. 1.) You have sufficient clincial experience, 2.) You pass a credentialing examination (which requires usually 1000 practice hours in the area of specialty), 3.) You get an advanced nursing master's degree in an area of specialization.

Good luck to you!