working in the well baby nursery

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 22, 2005

It is a GREAT start out of nursing school. However, wellbaby nurseries are becoming the EXCEPTION, not the norm. Many hospitals are going to LDRP (all one room from labor to discharge) and rooming-in with mom is becoming the normal way to go. Hence very little need for well baby nurseries. Esp in smaller hospitals, you won't find wellbaby nurseries, or staffing set up for these. What y ou will likely find is level 2 nurseries where babies may be on IV meds/oxygen, or have the need for gavage feeds or bili therapy. Well baby nurseries are being increasingly phased out as rooming-in becomes the norm for well moms and their babies. It encourages breastfeeding and bonding. Good luck to you. Try mother/baby or post partum; this is a great place to start as a new nurse, then you can move on to doing labor/delivery later on. I wish you well.

onehusbandsevenkids · Feb 22, 2005

It is a GREAT start out of nursing school. However, wellbaby nurseries are becoming the EXCEPTION, not the norm. Many hospitals are going to LDRP (all one room from labor to discharge) and rooming-in with mom is becoming the normal way to go. Hence very little need for well baby nurseries. Esp in smaller hospitals, you won't find wellbaby nurseries, or staffing set up for these. What y ou will likely find is level 2 nurseries where babies may be on IV meds/oxygen, or have the need for gavage feeds or bili therapy. Well baby nurseries are being increasingly phased out as rooming-in becomes the norm for well moms and their babies. It encourages breastfeeding and bonding. Good luck to you. Try mother/baby or post partum; this is a great place to start as a new nurse, then you can move on to doing labor/delivery later on. I wish you well.

I WISH the hospitals here would do away with their wellbaby nurseries!

The largest hospital here with the most deliveries (I call it a baby factory, soooo many deliveries, good marketing) has a mandatory 4 hour (at least) mother baby seperation after birth- for all babies, regardless of health. For baby to be "monitored" and "stablilized" UGH....I hate it.

The second largest has the same policy, but not four hours.

Anyhow, thanks for replying.

Q. · Feb 22, 2005

It is a GREAT start out of nursing school. However, wellbaby nurseries are becoming the EXCEPTION, not the norm. Many hospitals are going to LDRP (all one room from labor to discharge) and rooming-in with mom is becoming the normal way to go. Hence very little need for well baby nurseries. Esp in smaller hospitals, you won't find wellbaby nurseries, or staffing set up for these. What y ou will likely find is level 2 nurseries where babies may be on IV meds/oxygen, or have the need for gavage feeds or bili therapy. Well baby nurseries are being increasingly phased out as rooming-in becomes the norm for well moms and their babies. It encourages breastfeeding and bonding. Good luck to you. Try mother/baby or post partum; this is a great place to start as a new nurse, then you can move on to doing labor/delivery later on. I wish you well.

Agree 100% :)

BETSRN · Feb 23, 2005

Hi
I'm just wondering if working in the well baby nursery gets to be boring and too routine at times (sometimes routine is good though!).
Am a nursing student trying to decide between L&D (don't think I could handle "mainstream" L&D practices day in and day out and keep my mouth shut enough to keep me from being fired), Well baby or NICU.
Would like to hear from anyone working well baby regularly.
Pros & Cons?
Blessings!

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!

Fiona59 · Feb 23, 2005

The only time we had babies in our nursery was when they came down from L&D. We did the physical assessment (Apgar done in L&D), first bath, stocked the bassinet and then delivered them to Mum in her room. Unless they needed to be under the lights or were under a protection/apprhension order we never had babies in the nursery.

PP isn't boring. Every Mum and her family is different. We were responsible for the q shift assessment of mum and baby, meds for mum, all of mums teaching, wound care if any, talks to Dad about his role, car seat checks before discharge.

Admittedly, its not the glamourous ER type nursing, and its not all baby cuddling, but 99 shifts out of 100, I left feeling that I had done the job well.

WhatToDo · Feb 23, 2005

I'm absoluting no expert, but I spoke to my nurse manager in labor & delivery yesturday (I volunteer there) and asked her about the different areas of the OB. Our unit is an LDRP, they hire new grads, and the new grads are cross-trained in all areas, usually starting with postpartum. She said she would recommend any new grad go into an LDRP unit becuase you get a lot more experience.

LDRP units are apparently more prevelant in large teaching hospitals than in small community hospitals.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 23, 2005

No, actually, LDRP suites are not usually more common in large hospitals. Quite the opposite is true. The larger hospitals usually have separate and distinct labor/delivery and post-partum or mother-baby rooms/units. Sometimes, these are even on different FLOORS with completely different nursing staff. Matter of fact, the larger the hospital is, the more likely you will have LDR and PP/mother-baby units that are separate altogether. LDRP concepts usually work better in smaller community hospitals, not really huge, busy ones.

And , no, not every new grad is suited to jump right into LDRP. Some are better off doing PP/mother-baby first then labor. It's really overwhelming to most to learn it all at once, and unless you have a REALLY lengthy orientation (in excess of 3-6 months), it is not likely you will be able to function in LDRP independently for a while. It takes most new grads the better part of one year before they feel at all comfortable doing all of what is required of an LDRP nurse. I would seriously recommend learning PP/ mother-baby FIRST, then orienting to LABOR, later, if at all possible. Learning LDRP was the most overwhelming thing ever for me, as a new grad, 7 years ago. I wish I had had the choice to do it more gradually. If you do go directly into LDRP, make darn sure you will have a very thorough, comprehensive orientation that is at least 3 months long (fulltime). Or better yet, see if a residency is offered where you plan to enter into LDRP----really you will be glad if you do it this way first.