My Day in L&D

Labor and delivery. For as long as I can remember, this area has been number one in areas of nursing I am interested in. A close second is ER/Trauma and Peds as third. Maybe it's because I feel like I am making more of a difference in people's lives in these departments. Maybe it's because I find these areas so intriguing. Maybe it's neither of those things and something entirely different, but those areas have always remained on the forefront of my mind.

When I first started nursing school, I told myself I would keep an open mind, that I wouldn't close myself off to just L&D, or ER, or anything else. I would go through the rotations and see if maybe something else would surprise me. I went through three rotations on med surg floors so far. This is the area where everyone tells you to work a year or two in order to hone your skills as a nurse and then transfer to wherever you like after. My first two of the three med surg floors I was on I absolutely HATED. I'm not a big fan of adult poop or adult urine. I'm not a big fan of 1:6-8 patient ratios. I'm not a fan of doing nothing but passing meds all day. Or being yelled at by older patients. Or anything else really med surg-like. I don't feel like I am making a difference, I don't feel like I am helping anyone. The third of those three med surg floors I had a better experience, and ended up feeling a little more like what I was doing mattered. But still. It didn't feel like home.

Then came Peds. I felt more comfortable, but it wasn't how I envisioned it at all. I thought I would go in there and be super nurse, and make all these sick kids magically smile and feel better. I was naive, and my expectations caused me to be disappointed. My Peds rotation was just yet another med surg floor, this time the patients were smaller, and I had to deal with moms and dads on top of it, which can be intimidating. I know that there is a whole lot more to the Peds world than what I experienced and I did like it more than the other rotations, but it still just didn't feel quite.........right.

Then there was Psych. Definitely NOT for me. Charting non-stop all day in the nursing station, and passing out meds- not my cup of tea. I can be a secretary any day of the week if I want right now without a license. Nurses chart- sure, but not like this. This was just insane (no pun intended).

Then came OB.

The excitement of it alone almost overwhelms me.

I've only had one day on the floor and while I didn't experience much, something just feels......right. It's hard, because I am an emotional person, so I don't know how long it will take me to stop crying after every birth, after every loss. I fought back tears several times yesterday. Most happy ones, but there was a sad set of tears in there, too. In talking to the nurse I was working with, I was told it's OK to cry. We're human. If there's a loss, just be there for the patient, cry with them, and if I need to step out, then do it. I will be able to find a way to block things when I need to. I can do it. It might take some practice, but I think I can.

I really feel like this might be my home. And the realization of that kind of overwhelms me as well.

There are so many awesomely fascinating aspects of OB. It is really such a specialized area and I feel like while there is a lot that I know, and a lot that I am still learning, there is still SO much more to learn. There's also other aspects of OB, too- like postpartum nurses, baby nurses, NICU. I will be experiencing all of these during this rotation. Maybe I will like those, too.

There's just something about L&D.

So for my first day, I had a patient, who just so happened to be an RN herself. First time mom, didn't know the sex of the baby yet. I was so excited to be able to experience this time with her and her husband. Unfortunately, she didn't deliver before I left. In fact there was not one vaginal delivery then entire time were we there, yet the floor was crazy busy. By the time we left, all 12 beds were full and all 3 triage beds as well. There was about 4 c-sections earlier in the day, and I was able to see one of them. It was pretty cool to be able to see things from the other side of the table for once, and holy cow, the stitching involved is amazing! Way cool. So many layers......which I am sure I knew in the back of my head but just didn't realize until it was there in my face to see. Doctors and nurses all seemed very nice. My nurse even told me about the new grad program their L&D has about once a year.

I saw two epidurals given, I saw one spinal given (for the c-section I watched), I watched a foley cath being done, which I had asked to do myself because I know how to do them and can do, them, but my nurse thought it would be a better idea for me not to do it since my patient was a nurse. I saw the baby nurse and the pediatrician doing their thing with the newborn, suctioning out the mucous the c-section babies often have, doing the gestational age tests, APGAR scores, foot prints, etc. I saw everything BUT a vaginal delivery.

Right before we went home, a young lady came in who was 21 weeks pregnant with her water broken and in a lot of pain. The nurses were saying she was probably going to deliver soon. This was tough for me, because as I learned, with a baby that small, there is nothing that can be done. Nothing. Too small. Usually after 24 weeks there is a chance, and at 22 weeks they may evaluate to see if there is a shot but 21 is not enough. Sad, very sad. Apparently, the patient was a drug mom in a drug program at the hospital. Even sadder.

But not all the cases are like this. I can't express the coolness of witnessing the birth of a little life into the world. Watching them take their first breath and seeing the happy moms and dads, so proud. I got to take a picture of a dad cutting the cord off his little girl (was a c-section baby and they were doing it in the little newborn room, oh and the picture was for the dad with his camera, not mine!). So cool. So very, very cool.

There's just something about L&D.