Tell me about OB clinicals!

Galore · Apr 30, 2008

My OB rotation was very short and clinical experiences depended a lot on which hospital we were placed in (some people got to spend time in NICU whereas my hospital didn't have one, for example). I saw lady partsl and C-section deliveries, worked with postpartum moms, spent one day in the nursery, etc. During labor, you will probably be coaching the mom, assessing contractions, and checking the fetal heart rate monitors. After a birth, there are frequent assessments on mom and baby. Postpartum, there are lots of teaching opportunities. If your pt is not actively laboring and/or is getting their epidural redosed frequently, it can be very boring but I really enjoyed it when things were busy!

The meds I saw most were Pitocin to augment labor, Nubain or Stadol for intrapartum pain, Percocet for pain after labor, and epidurals of course. We also had to know about magnesium sulfate, terbutaline, and betamethasone, but I never saw those given. Baby gets Vit K shot and erythromycin in the eyes. I hope you enjoy your rotation :)

3sodapop · Apr 30, 2008

I'm in the middle of my OB/MICU rotation. First thing I do after checking with the nurse is to assess mom & baby: fundus, episiotomy, pain, breasts, lochia, VS.. I keep the flow chart up to date regarding feedings, wet & soiled diapers, etc. The moms are pretty healthy compared to Med/Surg and will usually take care of themselves and the baby.

The teaching opportunities are endless, especially with 1st time moms. Today I talked a new dad thru bathing the baby; yesterday I taught the bulb syringe, breast care, & any other questions they had.

It's a lot of fun if you're doing something useful, although it can be slow sometimes. The only med needed was motrin. I d/c'd a heplock. New skills mainly revolve around bathing and teaching, at least in my limited experience, it's only been 3 days so far.

Good Luck!

Shenanigans, RN · Apr 30, 2008

You guys are lucky, we dont' get an OB rotation in our nursing programme anymore cos the med students complained we were taking up all the places!

Thankfully, I was one of the last nursing students to do a placement there. And it was boring as heck, all I saw was a healthy placenta and a placenta of a smoker.

Moral of the story: don't smoke when your'e pregnant!

southernbelle08 · May 1, 2008

My OB clinicals were a bit unlike any other. Not just the different area, obviously, but in the fact that we really weren't allowed to do very much. L&D was slow at our hospital that day, so I was assigned to a patient they were observing after she was admitted for PIH. I just checked in on her throughout the day and charted my assessments. I would help get her back on the monitors after she had to come off to use the bathroom or for any other reason. They did end up doing a c-section that afternoon and at that time I was allowed to do her abdominal prep, give her a PO med, and I inserted her Foley. I also got to observe the c-section.

My classmates did give medicines, but weren't allowed to do anything with Pitocin. A couple others inserted Foley's too. I think 1 or 2 got to start an IV on a new admission we got later in the day. We weren't allowed to do any cervical checks.

It was just a different experience to me, because it was the one place we really were limited on things we could do that went on. Also, in my experience, you don't have that total care type thing like you do on a lot of Med-Surg clinicals - where you'll basically have them all day and only see their nurse(s) every now and then - you constantly have other people in and around.

My second time in OB - we, again, didn't have any laboring patients to go around to the whole group, so I was sent to observe in the NICU that day.

Good luck, I hope you enjoy your experience there!! :)

NursesRock!! · May 1, 2008

I was able to do 2 weeks in OB. In addition to the things mentioned above I was able to give methergine and hemabate, which are to control hemorrhaging. I help hold moms during epidurals, applied SCD's, did antepartum, postpartum, and newborn assessments. Helped a 16 y.o primigravida in preterm labor w/twins. (Se got Mag, terbutaline, I did her foley with out an epidural, and transfer paperwork to a nearby NICU). I hav a great time. I got to see 5 SVD and scrub in on 1 scheduled c-section. I was not prepared to assist with one of my last patient. She was a scheduled induction foe a 34 wk. IUFD. It was very sad, but managed to get through it. Have fun!!!!!!!