Whine alert! OB/Peds

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I need an attitude adjustment already and classes don't start for 2 weeks! I am starting OB/Peds this fall and am trying to get through the reading (we have a quiz on day 1) and I'm having the worst time! I have no interest in either of these two classes and just find myself getting frustruated. So, from everyone who liked OB/Peds, WHAT did you like about it? What did you find fascinating? For everyone in my same boat, how did you get through it?

Go ahead, tell me to suck it up, tell me to stop procrastinating, tell me whatever you want! Maybe I need to read it from other people instead of the voice inside my head! Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

I was the same way trust me. I do not like OB or peds at all and it was a struggle getting through. Honestly I just knew I HAD to do it so it made it a little easier to do the reading. It was also the only time I have ever done a study group because people that love the topics have a lot to offer.

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Well, here's my take. It's just about the only place you can go in the hospital where your patients aren't "sick." You know? I think it's incredibly interesting to have that kind of situation. It presents a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunity to work with patients who are for the most part OK.

I NEVER want to work in this area (MAYBE in recovery, but not a chance in L&D). You can do it!

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Well, here's my take. It's just about the only place you can go in the hospital where your patients aren't "sick." You know? I think it's incredibly interesting to have that kind of situation. It presents a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunity to work with patients who are for the most part OK.

I NEVER want to work in this area (MAYBE in recovery, but not a chance in L&D). You can do it!

That's a good way to look at it. I know that for the most part the people aren't sick but as weird as it sounds, that's the part I like most about nursing school. Seeing what the body does when it's sick, learning about what is making the body sick and then seeing what we do to try and make the body better. Plus, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE doing procedures on people (foleys, NGs, and stuff). But, maybe this rotation will take me by surprise and I will learn to deal. But getting through the reading....ugh!

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

As a peds nurse, I think the thing that people find the approach to nursing in OB and Peds is different than most other specialties in nursing. In med-surg or most adult areas of nursing, you are caring for the pt. In OB and Peds, the goal is to provide care for the whole family, pt, siblings, and parents.

Also, most med-surg pts have countless secondary diagnosises that you are also trying to manage. Often OB and Peds pt's only have the one issue affecting them and their hospitalizations (ie pregnancy, asthma exacerbation, etc), this makes it so pt education can be really geared toward one specific problem. Since even kids with complex medical issues end up being cared at by their parents at home, pt education ends up becoming a necessity for the family.

If you have any questions, let me know. I know OB/Peds isn't for everyone, but try to enjoy your semester.

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Specializes in Critical Care (ICU/CVICU).

Do yourself a favor and purchase (or borrow) these books: Straight A's in Pediatrics and Straight A's in Maternal/neonatal. Pedi is what I lenjoy, but OB was hard for me. These books are LIFESAVERS!!! They are smaller, easy to read and cuts out the "fluff" of textbooks and tells you what you need to know to pass tests! I was recommended to purchase these books by another student who took pedi/ob before I did. The books helped me get a complete letter grade difference! Read your textbook first, of course. Then read the coordinating chapters in the books and practice questions on the CD. If you sign up for Amazon Student, you get a year of FREE 2 day shipping, if you decide to get them. I HIGHLY recommend you get these books!!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

It's always hard to get yourself psyched for a class that doesn't interest you. Now you can understand how some of your classmates feel when having to endure adult med/surg rotations.

As for making OB seem interesting ... You say you find it interesting to see how the body works and what we can do to make things better. Well, think about how fascinating (and a bit bizarre) it is to have 1 person actually living inside of another person! There are all sorts of physiological adaptations that the mother's body goes through to accommodate the needs of that little parasitic person living inside her. And the baby has a very different physiology pre-natally than after birth.

While people like to think of the birth process as "low risk" and get all mushy about it, in reality, birth is a very high risk process with the potential for great harm to both mother and baby. If something goes wrong, the mom can stoke out, bleed out, die, etc. The baby also faces great risk as his/her whole physiology has to change in a matter of minutes. If that doesn't go right, boom -- you can get permanent, irreversible brain damage and/or a lot of other serious problems, including neonatal death.

Yes, I have been a NICU nurse and seen hundreds of babies that did not make it through the birth process without significant problems -- and yes, a few moms who died within hours of giving birth. So don't let the "naturalists" blind you to the fact that maternity is a highly complex specialty with lots of major (and sometimes risky) things going on. High-risk laboring moms and neonatal ICU patients are sometimes the sickest patients in the hospital. It isn't all "sweetness and light."

The same goes for peds. Kids get just as sick as adults.

But if you are doing you clinicals at a community hospital that doesn't keep sick patients, you might got to see much of the high-risk side of either Peds or OB. That's a shame.

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Well I don't have much to contribute but it seems everyone else has given great information here! So I'm going to go ahead and give you a little idea I love and use all the time:

If you spend your time worrying about possibly losing everything and going hungry one day, and then it happens, you've suffered twice for it. Don't waste time dreading a test or a class, because if you do end up hating it then you've spent twice as long suffering for something that really only needed to be suffered through once! You can only know if it sucks once you're there...then if it does suck, make sure you remind yourself it's only a short-term thing and anyone can do anything for (1 month, 2 months, 6 months...) :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

Are you sure it's because you don't like the subject matter/area of nursing, or is it because you are studying on your break? :D

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That is a great way to look at it (and a lot of things!). Thanks for posting that.

Well I don't have much to contribute but it seems everyone else has given great information here! So I'm going to go ahead and give you a little idea I love and use all the time:

If you spend your time worrying about possibly losing everything and going hungry one day, and then it happens, you've suffered twice for it. Don't waste time dreading a test or a class, because if you do end up hating it then you've spent twice as long suffering for something that really only needed to be suffered through once! You can only know if it sucks once you're there...then if it does suck, make sure you remind yourself it's only a short-term thing and anyone can do anything for (1 month, 2 months, 6 months...) :)

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^ I read it in a book a couple of weeks ago and that little quote has done so much for me in the way of changing my attitude and how I deal with things~! Glad you like it!

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I haven't taken either of these but I'm looking forward to both when I get them. What appeals to me as the pediatric nurse and the nicu nurse said is that it's more focused on family care and not just one patient. I love the fact that certain areas, such as postpartum are more focused on patient education, assessments and the impact on the family and bonding. That's actually the part of OB I want to work in. Then you have the antepartum for high risk pregnancies.

And things are not always easy and not always healthy. Newborns are the most vulnerable patients in the hospital, they can be born healthy and a few hours later be in ICU, to me from what I've seen and heard you have to be on your toes and stay alert so you can notice even the slightest change. My sister was admitted into the hospital for I think a reaction to medication she was taking and she was doing fine and was going to go home the next day. Five minutes after my mom left the baby's BP and heart rate suddenly dropped and they had to do an emergency C-section with the hour. Turns out he had somehow wrapped himself up in his umbilical cord (around his shoulders, neck, waist).

Pediatrics can be a challenge because you're dealing with anxious, worried parents and they aren't always rational at times. Plus communication with pediatric patients are difficult for people. My friends who have gone through the OB rotation said it was more difficult than Peds because pregnant women are complicated as they say lol. I love the fact that you not only have to be medically skilled but emotionally and socially skilled to deal with the factors that go along with OB and Peds. There's also a lot of room for patient advocacy in OB.

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