A Typical Shift as a L&D Nurse | New Grad Nurse

#newgradnurse #nursing #laboranddelivery
*This video is for informational purposes only. Please always follow your hospital policies.
There are SO many things that we do on a daily basis that I couldn't possibly fit into one video. Leave any questions in the comments about anything I mentioned or missed!! I still have SO much to learn and every day is a challenge but I'm excited to get better at bringing babies into the world.
INSTAGRAM: / margaretarmen
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Who is she??
Hello!! My name is Margaret Armen. I am twenty-something and I live in the very fun (definitely underrated) Pittsburgh, PA! I left my job in advertising to go back to school for nursing. I just finished orientation as a Labor and Delivery nurse. I love bingeing a good TV show, listening to a murder podcast, and snuggling my little pup, Olive. xx
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[@tala67833]

Thank you for this video it’s the most in depth video I’ve watched I really appreciate it

[@Yuni_in_theUSA]

Hi i just came from south korea and started as a nurse in l&d ! It is a perfect video for me to think about the flow thankyou

[@nikoletatsvetkova2897]

Margaret, you inspire me. I am just finishing up my prerequisites the first week in August and can’t wait to apply to a couple of accelerated nursing programs in NYC. I truly wish to be able to experience being a L&D nurse! Wish me luck!

[@gkdgains]

I am also finishing up my pre reqs this fall to apply for an accelerated program!! im so nervous I hope I get in, good luck to you!!

[@nikoletatsvetkova2897]

Thank you! Good luck to you too!

[@margaretarmen]

Good luck!! You've got this!!

[@itsmelexie1]

hi!! I'm in NYC and considering nursing school. what programs did you apply to?

[@kaileyhawthorn256]

I always think about you during my journey!! You’re just a breath of fresh air, especially with so much negativity right now 💖

[@margaretarmen]

aw thank you so much! I hope everything is going well for you!!

[@kaileyhawthorn256]

@@margaretarmen thanks girl!! Can’t wait to see more videos 💖

[@JessicaLangston870]

Thanks Margaret for the wonderful video! I'd love to see more videos over different types of labor and maybe even examples of what happens when you notice something is wrong, or special steps you take for high risk pregnancies. I'm going to be starting my ABSN in August, but not going to lie - getting very excited for L&D rounds!

[@jasminelpinto]

I work L&D too! Loved the video! My hospital also has a 2:1 ratio. Do you ever have two patients on pitocin at once?

[@margaretarmen]

🩷🩷. Yes! All the time lol pretty much all of my patients were on pitocin

[@salma31000]

I been following you since ur nursing days.. I passed nclex and applied to my first RN position .. I'm interested in postpartum .. congrats on almost finishing ur orientation.

[@margaretarmen]

Congratulations!! Good luck with your job I hope you get it 😊

[@cindyzavala4626]

Thank you for making this video🫶🏼 I’m considering studying this career in college (I’m a senior I’m high school right now) and honestly this helped a lot to see how it really is. Was the work for college hard?

[@margaretarmen]

Nursing school was definitely challenging but not impossible! The best thing to do is just take it one step at a time and you'll get through it no problem!

[@cindyzavala4626]

@@margaretarmen thank youuu so much🫶🏼

[@TimewithLivi]

I’m ready to go back to labor 😅

[@jessicamembrano3803]

Hi! What made you want to change your career to nursing? I’m curious because I am currently in the banking industry and after having my baby, I am considering changing my career to become an L&D nurse.

[@zeenaashir3044]

Congrats as a new Nurse! I have a question. I am interested in joining ABSN. I was wondering how did get accepted to the program? How did you complete the prerequisites needed for the program? Did you have to go to college again after your undergrad degree in Journalism? Thank you for your help!

[@1120forevrr]

So I was going back to school to become an Respiratory therapist then thought about pediatric nursing but now I’m really considering L&D nursing..my only question is would I have to work with adults first or can I go straight to L&D? Thanks in advance

[@kennedyraquel6472]

You can go straight into L&D! I graduate in April 2023 and have a new grad job in L&D lined up. Since specialties are highly sought after it can be hard to get positions in them. My best advice is to start applying early! Hospitals where I am say apply for your new grad job 6-9 months before graduation. Reach out to the hospitals in your area before that 9 month out mark and talk to their managers to see when their applications will open for L&D or if you can interview. I did a lot of shadowing and added that onto my resume to show my interest. Getting a tech job on that unit also helps a lot as I know some people who really didn’t have to interview for their jobs since they were already employed in the unit. Make sure you get to see all the L&D units in your area to get a good feel of where you feel would be the best fit for you. It feels almost impossible when you’re trying to get interviews and waiting for offers but just remember to stay hopeful!

[@1120forevrr]

@@kennedyraquel6472 thank you sm for the response !!!

[@margaretarmen]

Sorry for taking so long to respond! You can definitely go straight to L&D! I knew I didn't want to work in any other specialty to just applied to L&D jobs before graduating.

[@1120forevrr]

@@margaretarmen at least your responded lol thank you !!

[@hallierichards1296]

I’m also interested in knowing how C Sections work. Do you circulate or do you scrub, or are you with mom. Thank you for this video! It’s so helpful.

[@margaretarmen]

We circulate at my hospital!

[@sonniecody7763]

Hi. Did you think about postpartum or went strictly into L&d? I’m trying to decide. I really want L&d but my hospital has more PP new grad positions.

[@margaretarmen]

I went straight for L&D because that was more in line with what I wanted. If I hadn't gotten this job I probably would've considered postpartum just to stay in OB and then transferred to L&D when I could.

[@hallierichards1296]

Hi! Is this pretty much the extent of the care we do for baby? At what point do we get them measured and all that stuff? Who is taking care of baby if something unexpectedly goes wrong? I’m in nursing school and I’m interested in L&D, just wondering how much time do we also get to interact with the babies 😊

[@aslansutton5939]

1. In a healthy/typical delivery, you measure the baby after mom and baby have skin to skin time. 2. The provider (doctor), charge nurse, and L&D nurse are taking care of baby and mom no matter if things go perfect or very wrong. 3. The answer to your last question varies depending on what you mean by “interact.” If you are wondering if you get a moment to sit and hold the baby, the answer is no. Your job is 100% to make sure that the baby is healthy and mom is healthy and you move along to your next delivery. Labor and delivery nursing is one of- if not the hardest nursing jobs out there. You will not have any free time throughout the day and many breaks will be skipped and a lot of over time will be put in. On the other hand, if you’re talking about how much time will be spent taking care of baby and making sure baby is healthy, you will spend a good amount of time doing that, but the majority of your time will be spent with mom during labor and delivery.

[@margaretarmen]

Hi! At my hospital, we have a newborn assessment nurse (NAN) that comes to assess the baby during the recovery period (2hrs post delivery) while they are still on our unit. The NAN will measure the baby, take footprints, administer medications, etc. I will often weigh the baby if the parents ask me to but I mostly just leave them skin-to-skin until the NAN arrives to take advantage of the golden hour. I take vitals on the baby every 30 minutes and if something were to go unexpectedly wrong there are a few things we can do. Depending on how urgent the issue is, I will either hit a code blue to get the whole team into the room quickly OR if we have time I will call the NICU resident to come and assess the baby. I am lucky that my hospital is pretty large and we have a ton of resources at our disposal. At my hospital, our physicians and pediatricians often do not come back to see the patient until the next day after they are on postpartum. This means it is up to the nurses to be assessing mom and baby and identify if there is a need for the docs to come evaluate further. Most of my job focuses on mom and helping her through delivery/the immediate postpartum phase. Even after delivery, I don't spend too much time with baby aside from vitals and swaddling them for the parents. If I have a slower day I can sometimes help a mom breastfeed if she needs some assistance. I would say if you want babies to be more of your focus, think about a mother/baby unit or working in the NICU! I hope this helps!

[@kennedyraquel6472]

If you’re hoping to do more things with babies it would be better to go into a peds specialty. Even in nicu it’s not really a hold the babies all day kind of job since those babies can be really sick. Shadowing in the different specialties will help a lot when it comes to figuring out where you want to go!

[@Magnoliaflower-]

How much is your average salary in your state?

[@margaretarmen]

According to Indeed $41.01/hr for nurses with less than a year of experience and an average of $45.38/hr overall.

[@Magnoliaflower-]

@@margaretarmen wow! what state is this again?

[@allisonrose5361]

Are you on days or nights after orientation?

[@margaretarmen]

I started working 50/50 days and nights but now I’m straight days!