What do LPN's do in general-also in OB/GYN

BETSRN · Feb 29, 2004

It depends on the hospital. I work at an all RN hospital. our LPN's had to go back to school to become RN's or they had to become techs. They are invaluable in all of those areas, however.

Nur_1996 · Feb 29, 2004

In the state of FL, LPN's do pretty much every thing RN's do, except push certain meds, and hang blood. I currenty for the past year do not work in a hospital setting. But I worked Peds and mother/baby in hospitals for years. They wanted me to also Labor and Del. but I was not interested, peds was my true specialty. Thus, making school nursing a great choice for me, better hours than the hospital! LPN duties are different state to state, and sometimes hospital to hospital also. I have many credits toward for RN, the main reason i want to be a RN is increased pay. I am a great nurse, with many skills and the ability to learn and have compassion for my patients as a LPN or RN, I am still a NURSE!!

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 29, 2004

nothing where I work. LPNs have no role in OB cause they are not hired there. I do not know of a hospital in my region that hires LPNs in labor and delivery.

Cali · Feb 29, 2004

Could you tell me what LPN's do in OB/GYN and L&D?

I am an LPN and have worked Labor & Delivery for a year. I go in during the deliveries and take care of the baby after birth. I wipe all the goop off the baby, weight it, do a set of vital signs, then wrap it up for the mom. I also take care of moms after delivery. We have to do the 15 minute checks to make sure they are not bleeding too much and we also give them pain meds if necessary. If the patient wants and epidural I assist the anesthesiologist with the procedure and then I have to stay in for an additional 30 minutes and keep an eye on the patients blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. If a patient is going to get a C-Section, the LPN's do the foley, shave prep and IV. Sometimes I will also be assigned to take care of low risk antepartum patients. With antepartum patients we pass meds, do intake & output and fetal monitoring. It's a great job if you can find a position on a Labor & Delivery unit but most places do not hire LPN's. Good luck to you and if you have more questions please feel free to send me a private message or e-mail.

imenid37 · Feb 29, 2004

My hospital does not currently hire new LPN's into our dept. which includes L/D, PP, NBN, and GYN. We have a couple of old timers who are LPN's. They do PP primarily, but can do baby care at an uncomplicated SVD. Some places have LPN's in L/D who serve as the scrubber for C/S, but we don't do our own C/S except baby care and that's always RN. Our OR staff includes several LPN's who scrub for all types of cases. Recently, our hospital decided LPN' s can't do their own assessments, so that limits us even more as to what we can give them. It's a shame as all of them are good nurses, but I guess it's politics, policies, the law, and whatever else makes things go around. The pendulum will swing again in lean $ times as LPN's salary are less than RN's.

L&D_RN_OH · Mar 1, 2004

We don't have LPN's in OB (L&D, NSY, or PP) at my facility. I thought it was interesting someone mentioned school nursing though. In this area, school nurses have to have a BSN.