Tele to OB

SmilingBluEyes · Aug 5, 2002

I have NO "been there, done that" experience to share w/you, but I do wish to encourage you to follow your heart and do what it tells you to do. I love women's health and cannot picture myself doing anything else. I wish you good luck in your endeavor and much encouragement. You can do what ever you really put your heart into....and do it well! Keep us updated when the time comes you are working in women's health and loving it!

shay · Aug 5, 2002

Same for me.......always been in either nursery or OB, never anywhere else. I do work with quite a few people who transferred to OB from med/surg floors, and they love it. Plus, hey, having tele experience, you can probably recognize funky heart rhythms a lot easier than most of us.

I know what normal sinus rhythm, pvc's, and a-fib looks like......and of course, asystole :chuckle. But that's IT!!! You can probably pick out all kinds of stuff, and if you're going into a high risk OB environment, you'll most certainly have pts. on tele. I know I did.

Dayray, RN · Aug 5, 2002

I worked in Tele as a tele tech and then as a Nurse Intern. I think the experience is very useful. Many moms have problems with their hearts and lungs and any other thing you can imagine.

The skills and knowledge you acquired in tele will help you to identify potential complications. You will also be able to see things from a more systematic point of view (how pregnancy effects other systems). You might feel that some of your skills go unused but you will develop new skills to fit your new area.

The best thing about OB is that since I have been there I find it to have just as many ups, downs and adrenaline pumping situations but most have a positive outcome. There is also a less competitive environment in OB then in Tele/ICU.

You will probably like it> OB/GYN nurses make a huge difference in their patient's outcomes and their lives.

mark_LD_RN · Aug 5, 2002

I have experience in many areas I have worked TELE,PSYCH, MED-SURG,ICU,ER,REHAB,ONCOLOGY AS WELL AS MOTHER BABY AND L&D.

you will do fine if you do it for the right reasons, do it because you love it not because you think it will be easy or always have happy outcomes. it can be the most wonderful place to work to the worst thing you can imagine. when it is bad it is really really bad. rember to be patient friendly and compassionate, it makes a difference. new moms and laboring patients need lots of encouragement.

on another note I personally think that an L&D nurses skills are not respected enough. a lot of nurses and patients even , think that all we get to do is hold babies. But I think a good L&D nurses skills are equal to any ICU or ER nurses skills. having worked in all those areas i feel confident in that statement.

i absolutely love my job. I hope you will to. good luck with everything,lets us know how it goes and if i can help let me know.

imenid37 · Aug 5, 2002

i did it in 1990 after 3 years in tele beginning as a new nurse. i love ob and have never regretted the move.

mother/babyRN, RN · Aug 5, 2003

I was a step down cardiac care unit nurse before I came to OB and that helped and continues to help me immensely...Not only with figuring out and quickly suspecting pulmonary edema and/or chf, but murmurs and other medical surgical difficulties that some OB only people might not either be familiar with in a clinical setting or just not suspect...I have diagnosed pulmonary emboli and other things, such as stroke and various other anamolies....Also, when recovering csections or post operative patients, I can correctly identify any ectopy that goes across the cardiac screen. Not every c/s allegedly healthy mom has NSR....

I can't imagine going into OB "green" either in the areas of med surg or cardiac respiratory background. Of course it can be and is done, but knowing what I already knew helped me get into the swing of things pretty quickly....And, having all that background, I STILL say delivery is the scariest place I have ever worked......

JKRN · Aug 9, 2003

I am a CCU nursing hoping to make the change to OB after 5 years. I hope that when I check back- you got the job and you can tell me that it CAN be done!! Good luck to you.

heartbeat2 · Jul 23, 2007

Hello everyone!!
I currently work in telemetry and I may be making a transition into NICU or OB (post-partum/mother-baby). I've been in telemetry for exactly one year (I started as a new grad.). Since nursing school, I always wanted to work in women's health. I finally landed a job interview for Wednesday in my desired chosen area. Is there anyone in this forum that started out in tele and switched to OB? Did you find your tele experience useful in OB or did it make the transition much more difficult? Any advice, words of wisdom, or encouragment you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Until then....wish me luck!

I would love to speak with you. I worked labor and delivery for over 20 years and dearly love it. I broke a knee 2 1/2 years ago and couldn't work l/d since but am trying hard to get back if my knee one day will let me. My hospital placed me in telemetry for recovery time. They didn't have to do it but I'm forever grateful that they did.

heartbeat2 · Jul 23, 2007

I would love to speak with anyone here re: telemetry, I went from L&D to telemetry after breaking a knee and am having a few BIG issues. I would love to have someone tell me how their hospital handles issues like "how long is too long" for a pt. to be off their telemetry monitor and things like this.

Who is over you telemetry units.

How many patients does one person monitor.

What is the layout of your telemetry department.

I don't mind helping anyone with ?'s re: going to mother/baby, post partum, or L&D:balloons:

Mais-Rose · Jul 24, 2007

I happen to be in the same boat as RNDIVA. I was Med/Surg, Tele, Clinic nursing before, now I wish to do Mother/Baby. I have an interview for a job on a mother/baby unit. The first thing the recruiter asked me is whether I have any mother/baby experience. Needless to say, that made me a little anxious. Hopefully I will be able to learn the floor quickly. I have never done any OB/GYN nursing, but it is a field I would love to enter.

I have read the posts and noticed that when referring to OB/GYN, many refer to L & D. Does this mean a mother/baby nurse also works L & D or only in some facilities? I really would love to do L & D , but I prefer to be cross trained from another unit. That way I can learn at my own pace without feeling rushed to be on staff in that unit.

Anyone who can shed some light on this suject, I would truly appreciate your response. Also any help with interview prep would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance. Be blessed.