What's it like being an labor and delivery nurse?

pinkiepinkPN · Dec 17, 2013

So I am going to nursing school and I really wanna be a labor and delivery nurse. Can you share your experiences with me. I'm very excited I can't wait to be a nurse. I know it will be challenging but I feel this is my calling.

Be open to all callings and experiences. I started school DEAD CERTAIN I wanted to be an L&D nurse... I graduated with a passion for elder care!

Smk22 · Dec 18, 2013

Wow.. So I never know what my passion will be for just yet. Thank you what made you change??

nocturnalnurse · Dec 18, 2013

OB nurse, to me, in 10 words: Emotional, gratifying, terrifying, heartbreaking, enlightening, joyous, exhausting, exhilarating, humbling, and LIFE.

Its the best and worst of what makes me a nurse. It can be the happiest or the saddest of times, the most adrenaline filled or exhausting. I love it and wouldn't do anything else!

pinkiepinkPN · Dec 19, 2013

Wow.. So I never know what my passion will be for just yet. Thank you what made you change??

Well, for one thing, I became quite disenchanted about how the birth process has become so sterile and medicalized. Don't get me wrong, modern medical interventions save lots of babies, but I feel far too many women are bullied into thinking they have no options other than to labor flat on their backs hooked up to machines and pushed into unnecessary interventions when labor doesn't progress at the pace the doctor wants it to. Even many midwives have become "med-wives".

Ultimately, I decided I wanted to be part of making an elderly person's last years, months, weeks, or days more comfortable and meaningful . I get a lot of satisfaction out of hearing a little old lady tell me how much she is thankful to have people like me taking care of her. I go home feeling good. And when they die, it's sad, but you also feel relieved for the end if their suffering and confusion and loneliness. That's another thing...I would not be able to handle seeing babies die or be born diseased or deformed. Quite a few of my classmates who wanted to be L&D nurses changed their minds when they found out it wasn't all healthy pink babies.

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Dec 19, 2013

Well, for one thing, I became quite disenchanted about how the birth process has become so sterile and medicalized. Don't get me wrong, modern medical interventions save lots of babies, but I feel far too many women are bullied into thinking they have no options other than to labor flat on their backs hooked up to machines and pushed into unnecessary interventions when labor doesn't progress at the pace the doctor wants it to. Even many midwives have become "med-wives".
Ultimately, I decided I wanted to be part of making an elderly person's last years, months, weeks, or days more comfortable and meaningful . I get a lot of satisfaction out of hearing a little old lady tell me how much she is thankful to have people like me taking care of her. I go home feeling good. And when they die, it's sad, but you also feel relieved for the end if their suffering and confusion and loneliness. That's another thing...I would not be able to handle seeing babies die or be born diseased or deformed. Quite a few of my classmates who wanted to be L&D nurses changed their minds when they found out it wasn't all healthy pink babies.

Wow, pinkie, that is great!

"but I feel far too many women are bullied into thinking they have no options other than to labor flat on their backs hooked up to machines and pushed into unnecessary interventions when labor doesn't progress at the pace the doctor wants it to"

I agree 100%. One of the reasons I chose L&D is because I want to help moms have the best experience they can have. I did not, and I want to change that. I want to be, as much as I can, the advocate for the mom to have the birth SHE wants, not the one medicine dictates....within reason, of course. I have my interview in L&D on Monday!!