Teaching in OB

Biggest issue - parents that know it all, roll their eyes while trying to talk to them, Dad turning up the TV to drown you out while talking to mom, and mom that won't get off the phone or keeps answering it while trying to talk to her. Another good reason to work nights.

I had patients actually ask me to move so they can watch Maury or Jerry Springer versus learn how to care for their babies or themselves. I would say this is a bit of a barrier.

That and endless parades of visitors that never quit. Hard to get much teaching done w/a room full of noisy, boisterous visitors. Then at night, Mom is so exhausted, she is in tears and begging us to take her baby to the nursery so she can sleep. Go figure. Hard to teach anyone in conditions like these and we have such a short time to do it. Most of our vag deliveries are d/c within 24 hours. Still, I do try.

One technique I use to get teaching done is to teach/talk about something important each time I enter the room for any reason, say to give pain pills, do assessments or help moms to showers. There is no time to waste, like I said, as they are with us a very short time.

I have a friend who says having a TV on in any room is like having an energy sucker on----it sucks all the intelligent energy out of the room. I agree. I pretty much hate most TV these days. Nothing annoys me more than Jerry Springer or Maury ...blech.

Many people who have done babysitting think they know all they need to know about caring for a baby. Recently I had a primaparous couple insist on going home at 10:30 PM (24hr after delivery). Most who deliver late at night stay the extra night in the hospital, especially if they're breastfeeding as this couple was. At 3AM the husband called me because the baby wouldn't stop crying. He had nursed well several times, but every time they put him down, he woke up and started crying. Along with my usual telephone warning about calling the doctor &/or going to the ER if they felt unsafe, I told them about a baby's need for skin to skin contact and that although the AAP warns of an increase in SIDS with cosleeping, I gave them saftey pointers for just in case they did fall asleep while holding the baby while in bed.

TV, visitors, and phone calls are the other banes of teaching. I will ask a patient to ask the caller to call back in 10 min or turn the TV off, or ask the visitors to be quiet so I can finish this important teaching that needs to be done before they can go home. As most want to leave as promptly as possible, they usually go along with the request. Long distance calls, episodes of 24, etc. I'll ask them to call me when they're ready. And I do some teaching every time I'm in the room. Visitors and grandparents often like to be included. Things change. Many grandparents had their children when babies were always put down on the stomach and are interested in discovering that that is now considered unsafe.

I have a friend who says having a TV on in any room is like having an energy sucker on----it sucks all the intelligent energy out of the room. I agree. I pretty much hate most TV these days. Nothing annoys me more than Jerry Springer or Maury ...blech.

I second that. I could do without TV altogether, save football and baseball season!

Biggest issue - parents that know it all, roll their eyes while trying to talk to them, Dad turning up the TV to drown you out while talking to mom, and mom that won't get off the phone or keeps answering it while trying to talk to her. Another good reason to work nights.

Ha! I DO work nights and am amazed at the number of people who watch cartoons and other slop all night long. They talk on the phone during the wee hours, too. And they have visitors at three a.m. Night shift is no longer a safe zone.