Ups and Downs

It is hard to believe I've been work as an OB nurse for over a month!! Amazing. It feels like I just started last week. The time is flying by. I meet with my supervisor weekly along with my preceptor to evaluate my progress. Today's meeting was just great. The supervisor is always willing to help and genuinely asks what I think I need in order to enrich my learning experience. We all decided today that I had a good grip on postpartum patients and we are adding "Baby Catching" to the equation now. So, today, I began my focus on learning what nursing measures are necessary immediately after birth when the physician hands the baby to the nurse.

I have my neonatal resuscitation class scheduled for two weeks from now. Up until that time I will be slowly taking over the role from my preceptor, then after I have my certification, I will be handling it all, including resuscitating "bad babies." I'm both scared to death and thrilled. I've been working my way through the required neonatal resuscitation book and I find it fascinating. Today at our "catch," the baby was fine: pink and crying right away, so I was able to handle a lot of the care because the baby didn't need resuscitation. I was able to help baby onto the breast within that first golden hour, even though the birth was by cesarean.

I still absolutely LOVE my job. But, it's not all rosy. Surely, the part of my job that I dislike the most are the circumcisions. I dread it when the doctor tells us he/she is ready to do the circ. Now, it is I who must take the baby from the mother and strap it down and hand the doctor the tools they need to do the job.

One of the doctors does a penile nerve block so the child doesn't feel any pain, and another compassionately talks directly to the infant during the whole procedure - telling him gently, "Now there is a hurty part coming up." Or "This is the last hurty part, then it is all over." Etc.

In any case, it is just a terrible part of my job.

I guess with anything, I just have to take the good with the bad, I suppose.