What did you do during OB rotation?

milan18400 · Oct 31, 2009

apparently i said i was male twice, lol.

Rednights · Oct 31, 2009

I took care of babies ... sweet sweet babies (temp, skin, bleeding, hr, reflexes, washing ..etc) for most of my rotation followed by doing a whole lot of nothing for a good period of the day besides checking up on the mother and the baby -- NOT examining the mother .. I was assigned to a baby(ies) NOT the mother.

You chart down when she started breastfeeding, what side of the breast or if formula, complaints of pain, bit of teaching (hint: encourage breast feeding over bottle to the best of your ability ... hopefully you've taken some sort of breast feeding class ... so you can answer advantages of breast feeding over the bottle ... and elementary questions on the whole breast feeding thing ... like if she asks ... "nothing is coming out! or .. iI'm sick .. I shouldn't breast feed right?" ... how would you respond to that question ... or tips on initiating breast feeding ... like getting his/her mouth to open in the first place .... all of that and if she needs anything more ... further education on breast feeding that is beyond your knowledge ... or request of pain meds.

WHEN you get your patient your Prof SHOULD be there as she's going to ask the lady if she is even comfortable with even having a male .... let alone a student nurse ... doing anything (examination) near her EVEN WITH YOUR PROF. There are many reasons you'll get denied =) ...

I think the moral of my rambling is ... if you're not going to do any examinations ... do patient teaching like I did ... it might be elementary teaching .. but at least it's positive/encouraging and will benefit the baby in the end.

elkpark · Oct 31, 2009

I also had absolutely no interest in OB (I'm female, BTW), but the US trains nurses as generalists and all students have to complete all specialty rotations to be eligible for licensure, even the ones you don't think you're interested in.

In my OB rotation at school (long, long ago and far, far away :)) the male students did everything the female students did -- coaching/assisting labor, assisting in deliveries, post-partum care. There were a couple male students in my group, and I never heard of an incident of a woman refusing to have a male student assigned (although our instructor may have checked that out in advance -- that I don't know about).

If you act like you're uncomfortable with particular situations or procedures, the client will pick up on that and be uncomfortable, also. There are lots of awkward and uncomfortable situations you will encounter in nursing, not just in OB, and part of your education is learning to conduct yourself as a confident professional in those situations. Best wishes!

Bacillus subtilis · Oct 31, 2009

I finished my OB rotation a few weeks ago. We did not do lady partsl exams to check dilatation and effacement. OB is a specialty with extensive orientation, and performing this skill falls outside of the student role. You really don't know what to look for or how to do it efficiently. I really doubt your school would put you (or the patient) in this position. In my program, the only exception to this is students doing their role transition in OB--individuals who plan to do it as a career.

As students, we were responsible for assessing postpartum moms and their infants. We administered pain medications, vaccinations, flushed IV lines and inserted/removed Foley catheters. I found that my "mom assessment" was like my typical medical-surgical one with the OB pieces tacked on. You still assess pain, pulses, bowel sounds etc. as you would with any patient.

OB is not my "thing" and I was skittish at first, but it gets easier. As a student, you have more time than the staff nurses carrying a full load. Most of my postpartum patients liked the extra TLC.

ok2bme · Oct 31, 2009

I think it is standard that students do not do lady partsl exams, it's invasive and a patient can always claim we got a little too enthusiastic. My OB rotation was divided up into three parts: L&D, Postpartum, and Nursery.

L&D: vital signs, maybe a few foley catheters and IV inserts, pitocin/saline hangs, coach mom during labor, hold one of her legs and count with her, watch fetal heart monitor and strips, once baby is born watch Apgar and troubleshoot breastfeeding if indicated, attend C-Sections and mainly watch

Postpartum: administer meds (mainly pain meds), assess any incisions from c-section or episiotomies, assess pad saturation and discharge, monitor mom/baby attachment, help with breastfeeding, teach and answer questions the new moms have (i.e. about how often to feed)

Nursery: give IM injections, eye cream, bathe them, feed them, do newborn assessments, assess reflexes, lanugo, vital signs, documentation. You may get a day in the NICU, in that case it's mainly observation we were barely allowed to touch the babies.

Have fun! I loved the babies, not so much moms, overall a fun rotation, not too intense lots of observation.

shrimpchips, LPN · Oct 31, 2009

Postpartum: assessments & vital signs Q4H, taking care of babies (as well as charting their I/O)/making sure they are getting fed on time...for breast-feed mothers, chart which breast the baby was latched onto and for how long. Postpartum is mostly teaching - how to care for the baby, how to effectively breastfeed, (umbilical) cord care, episiotomy/peri care, etc....but if you have a multigravida you won't really be doing any teaching. Medications are generally PRN and it all depends on how mom feels. You'll probably have the chance to administer a Hep B vaccine to a newborn at least once while you're on the unit.

L&D: Mostly observing. You make sure mom is comfortable...you do a lot of fetal monitoring. It depends on your nurse (and also the patient) on how much you can and cannot do, even with meds. You'll probably see at least one c-section while you're there and have the opportunity to administer the erythromycin opthlamic ointment and vitamin K injection (Aquamephyton) to the newborn as well. I never did any sort of lady partsl exam.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Oct 31, 2009

We haven't done OB/Peds yet, we do it next semester, I have had 4 kids and have had students present but never had a student check me. I would think that nurses wouldn't be trained in that until orientation when hired in that area. I have no idea about this but just my guess. Maybe post this in the OB section I am sure the nurses their would have a good idea of what the students can do.

missy--kay · Oct 31, 2009

I completed my OB rotation last year and checked a few moms. The nurse I was with asked the mom if that was okay, of course. I did just about everything the nurse would do. I had a great time, saw lots of births and did lots of charting. Ours was divided into L & D, postpartum (mom and baby) and NICU.

We have 2 males in our group, and they were told "no" many times by moms, so they did alot of charting, and had more to do with the babies.

I have no interest in going into L&D, but had a great experience.