What did you do to land a job in L&D?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

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Specializes in Family Practice & Obstetrics.

Hey everyone!

I'm a Canadian nurse and I had posted this to the Canadian nurses forum with little luck before the thread went off topic/dead.

I am just wondering what you did to land your job in L&D or PP? Did you take special courses, volunteer, interview demeanour, resume etc.? Anything you think helped you land your job.

Any float nurses out there? Did you float to this unit often, if you was it a good experience?

I know this isn't going to be a job I walk into and will def. have to take a job in another area and build seniority and then apply for any internal positions in this area. I am also prepared to work casual to gain experience!. I know I have to work hard and it could take years before I'm given an opportunity.

I know Canadian and US nursing are different worlds but I think you ladies and gentleman could really give me some good advice and point me in the right direction :)

Thank-you in advance :)

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So, you didn't like the responses you got in the Canadian thread you started?

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Specializes in Family Practice & Obstetrics.
So, you didn't like the responses you got in the Canadian thread you started?

No. I had no luck. Two posts directly related and the thread is dead, no activity. Not that I didn't value the input I'm just looking for more opinions? Much higher traffic in these threads and think there could be some good suggestions.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
So, you didn't like the responses you got in the Canadian thread you started?

Yeah, I doubt we're going to have some magic answers that the nurses in the Canadian forum didn't already come up with.

My answer probably won't help - I got an externship position in OB at our local hospital, that offers externships to a handful of students each year from the local community college nursing program. Then, when I graduated a year later, they hired me on as a new grad. I imagine they didn't want their year of paid training to go to waste.

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Specializes in Family Practice & Obstetrics.

What I meant was the thread was short and its not getting many bites. Higher traffic area here. Just looking for past experiences and differences in what others did to land their jobs. I'm not sure how it was constructed that my OP meant I didn't like "what canadian nurses said"?. There were a few good posts and then it strayed off topic and no longer has activity.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Well, I think what edged me out over other students applying for the externship (and there were a LOT - OB is and always has been a high-demand area) is the fact that I had been a La Leche League Leader for several years at that point and was working on accruing the hours to sit for the IBCLC exam, so I came with quite a bit of knowledge and training in helping women with breastfeeding. So, I agree with whomever it was on the Canadian board that suggestion you take some breastfeeding classes and maybe become a certified lactation counselor.

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In my area, speaking Punjabi or Arabic would help. But the reality is nurses in those areas stay until they retire. Study your health authorities job postings, see how many vacancies are posted. Then factor in that internal applicants set interviewed by seniority, do the math. Yo need to be in the system. So getting hired into any position works in your favour.

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Specializes in Family Practice & Obstetrics.

Thank-you both!

I think to begin with I want to get into a med/surg floor to build my basic nursing skills and mange patient loads. So I will be doing this asap. I'm a new new new RPN (which is equivalent to an LPN I believe), but I am also in my third year of my degree so I will apply for an externship in OB if my gpa is high enough and hope to get my foot in the door at a hospital as an RPN on a med/surg unit. I'm not sure about that states but you must be an RN (now a days) to work speciality floors and L & D is considered one. So hoping to work towards that! Again thanks for your advice. I will definitely be looking into breast feeding courses as well!

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Specializes in Family Practice & Obstetrics.

So, I agree with whomever it was on the Canadian board that suggestion you take some breastfeeding classes and maybe become a certified lactation counselor.

How long/ what was the cost of the IBCLC program in the states if you don't mind me asking?

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Becoming an IBCLC isn't just a program you take - there are various pathways that allow you to sit for the exam, depending upon you educational background and experience. When I took the exam, it took me 8+ years to accrue the hours needed. They have since changed their requirements so it only takes a fraction of the hours.

http://Www.iblce.org

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Thank-you both!

I think to begin with I want to get into a med/surg floor to build my basic nursing skills and mange patient loads. So I will be doing this asap. I'm a new new new RPN (which is equivalent to an LPN I believe), but I am also in my third year of my degree so I will apply for an externship in OB if my gpa is high enough and hope to get my foot in the door at a hospital as an RPN on a med/surg unit. I'm not sure about that states but you must be an RN (now a days) to work speciality floors and L & D is considered one. So hoping to work towards that! Again thanks for your advice. I will definitely be looking into breast feeding courses as well!

Maybe you need to be an RN in Ontario to work speciality floors but this is not true in the rest of Canada. In Alberta, LPNs are found in Cardiology, Pediatrics, Opthamology/ENT, Dialysis, ICU, NICU, etc. It's easier to ask us where we don't work (right now, I can only think of L&D and PICU). I had a classmate hired for L&D in a rural hospital when I graduated.

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Specializes in L&D, Mother/Baby.

I couldn't get hired as an L&D nurse when I graduated nursing school. I got a job on a telemetry unit and when my manager asked me about my goals, I told her I wanted some good experience in Medicine, and then planned to move on to OB. She remembered that, and 3 years later she got me in with the L&D manager (I didn't even ask her for help!). My L&D interview was less of a Q&A and more of a "hi you got the job!" I was so thrilled and I will never forget my tele nurse manager for that.

So just make your goals known and network! You never know who's talking to who...

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