What Does a OB/GYN Nurse Do?

jxoxo · Jan 26, 2012

Hello Everyone,
I am a new nursing student and many other students I have classes with seem like they know which area they would like to work in when they graduate. I'm not sure which field I am interested in. One area that I would like to know more about is the OB/GYN. What do nurses in this field do exactly? What are the pros and cons? And what kinds of different places do you work in this field besides a OB/GYN floor on a hospital? Would other places be like planned parenthood? I would like to hear your experiences and stories working in this field, if anyone would like to share! Thanks! :)

I am also interested in this area, I am a junior nursing student. Wondering what the stress level is like ? I like to keep busy and all but definitely not meant for the ER or anything like that lol so i was looking into OB. Plus I think it would be exciting to work with moms, especially first time moms who need patient education. However, this is all specualtion as i have not had my OB clinical yet

myer0 · Jan 27, 2012

I was wondering the same thing! I'm hoping a nurse that works in this field will look at this and share their experiences about working in the field. I haven't started any of the main clinical classes yet, but I hope after I start them I'll find my calling as to which field I would like to work in. I thought it would be neat to work with new mothers as well. I'm not a huge baby fan, but the birthing cycle just amazes me and I think I would like to be a nurse in the delivery room. And I would imagine working in this field would need lots of patient teaching especially with first time mothers and teen mothers as well. Once again if there is anyone that works in this field I would really like to hear about it!

CanadianGirl79 · Jan 28, 2012

It depends on what area of OB/GYN you are in. If you are in Mother/Baby, you will take care of moms and their babies, usually in a rooming-in situation (meaning baby stays with mom at all times, and never leaves her side). You need to do assessments on both mom and baby, help mom with breast or bottle-feeding, do lots of teaching.

If you are in a straight postpartum unit, then you look after mom, and baby is in the nursery, except for feeds. You do assessments on mom, and help with breastfeeding a bit, but not as much as in Mother/Baby.

If you are in Labor and Delivery, you help the moms duirng their labor and delivery of their babies and if they have c-sections, you scrub in in the OR.

If you are in an OBGYN office, you do assessments, check the pee of pregnant ladies for protein and bacteria, get stuff ready for pap smears and do health teaching.

Hope that helps! :)

tanyanchlls · Jan 29, 2012

Hi canadiangirl, are there any jobs where you work?am an ob/gynea nurse in Texas and looking for a job at the moment

myer0 · Jan 30, 2012

Thank you so much for your post CanadianGirl79! I didn't realize how broad the OB/GYN area really is! I thought there was only one or two main things that you could do in this field. I know that Nursing is a very broad field to get into and you can get a job in whichever field suites you, I didn't necessarily realize that there are so many sections to choose from within each field.

Trina0606 · Feb 1, 2012

Labor and Delivery can be very intense...especially as a new grad. L&D nurses are responsible for monitoring the well being of both a mother and her fetus during their labor, deliver, and immediately following delivery. For the most part we function completely independently from the other units in the hospital except for maybe the ER and sometimes ICU. Like the ER, you have to be prepared for unexpected emergencies (i.e. maternal seizures, fetal demise, maternal hemorrhage, maternal and neonatal codes, oh ya and unexpected change in fetal/maternal status causing you to rush your pt back to the OR for a c-section). We care for patients with many types of comorbidities (i.e. cardiac/renal/hepatic disorders, psych disorders), prisoners, and must always be prepared to deliver a baby in the absence of a physician. On top of all of that we are required to chart every 5-15 min depending on the situation. Every hospital is different but at mine we circulate our own c-sections and recover (PACU) our patients afterwards. It is also not uncommon for us to catch/transition our own babies. We don't have CNAs so we do everything ourselves (i.e. removing meal trays, toileting, vitals, ADLs, you name it we do it! I started in L&D as a new grad, and although it is intense and the stress level can be extreme at times, I have yet to regret it! It definitely keeps you on your toes :)! Good luck with your decision!

myer0 · Feb 3, 2012

Trina0606, thank you for your post! It gave me a greater idea of what goes on in this type of setting! It does sound a bit overwhelming since you don't have CNAs, but that's glad that you like it. Have you ever tried any other areas in the hospital or have you just stayed in this field since you first started nursing?

millikinblondie94 · Feb 5, 2012

I might also be interested in this field, is the pay the same as any other nurse in the hospital? And if I was to transition to a physician's office for OB/GYN in the future (for things like starting a family, etc.), what would that be like? What would the pay deficit be?

cherie brown · Oct 18, 2012

I have been a nurse on ortho/med surg floor for 22 years. Our unit has a very high acuity and we send pt to icu's usually at least one patient a day. I am considering spending the next 22 years OB LD/post partum. Any suggestions on how to prepare/and how to know if this will be the right fit for me?If I do make the go into this field I want to be able to provide safe excellent care for the moms and babies.