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Thinking about going back to school

purple_posiespurple_posies
in Babies: 3 - 6 Months

to become a Labor/Delivery nurse.

I like hospitals (I know, I'm weird). I like helping people. I like helping women. I think helping babies be born would be awesome.

I have no idea what this would mean for us ... I know nurses work 12-hour shifts. I don't know how that would work .... if I had a night shift, I wouldn't have to put LO in daycare, I suppose. Or maybe only have to put him in half time.

I just wonder if this is the right decision for me. I hate change, lol.  Any advice or experience?

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Re: Thinking about going back to school

  • kimthgrtkimthgrt

    shift work is very difficult. I dont know your living situation, but DH is a fireman and does that, and its tough. he gets off work the within 5 monitues of when I have to leave. so we have a very small window before I would be late for work for him to get home. 

    BUT...that would be an AWESOME job. I was going to go to school for nursing, but school is not in my future at all. and labor and delivery would be soooooooo cool 

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  • Heather & NaytHeather & Nayt member
    That is exactly what i am in school to do right now. At the moment i am just finishing my pre-recs and hope to get into nursing school next fall. After that i am planning on going on the get my Midwife degree but that is a while down the road. I am thinking that i am going to try to get in a OB practice but i dont know yet, i have to get through school first! but i think that if you want to do it, nothing should stop you!
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  • tegltegl

    A lot of the mom's I work with do straight nights, so their kids don't go to daycare.  It means no sleep for you, though.  Working weekends and holidays are also not fun, especially when you want to spend it with your LO, family, etc. 

    DH and I both did shift work (same shift), and now work m-f, so daycare will be easier for us.  Nursing is a very demanding, rewarding, draining, exciting career.  There are so many opportunities, that shift work may only be what you do for such a short time.  You may also change your area of interest once you get into placements, etc.

     L&D can get repetitive, but some really like it and stay for years.  Good luck with whatever you decide.  Going back to school and changing careers is never easy, but so fulfilling to do something you want to.  An excellent example to your LO!

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  • electricdoctor83electricdoctor83 member

    This is going to be long because I am very passionate about this...... 

    I'm a nurse and I love my job, but I'm not going to lie....it's a HARD job.  I work in the Intensive Care Unit with very very sick patients (usually about to die and on a ventilator) so it's a little different than L&D.  I think that nursing is a great career but I think people think it's "easy" and "cool" and don't really think about what you will be doing realistically.  Nursing is not a good job for some people.  Here is a brief outline of the bad parts of nursing.....

    A nurse works 12 hour shifts that turn into 14-15 hours...it is often thankless, you will cry, you will get screamed at by patients, their families and doctors.  You will be degraded and made to feel like you are a idiot.  You will sometimes be so busy that you don't get to eat or use the restroom your entire shift. You will expose yourself to multiple diseases and health risks.  Sometimes the corners of my big toes bleed from my shoes.  You will do so much paperwork it will make you want kill yourself, you will have the most responsibility on your back with a very limited authority to actually do it, patients will die and you may blame yourself. The first time I ever had to care for a patient postmortem I was shaking from head to toe and threw up when we rolled the body into the bag. You will miss lots of family functions because you will have to work weekends and you will miss a lot of holidays too.

    Oh, and it's next to impossible to find a daycare center that can accomdate your changing schedule and hours....I couldn't find any.  Thankfully my MIL quit her job to watch our son.  It makes it worse to find daycare if your DH works weird hours or long hours.

    Another thing to think about before you decide to go into nursing is that L&D is next to impossible to get into right out of nursing school....you will probably have to do med-surg nursing for a number of years before being able to transfer to a labor and delivery unit.  Fellowships for L&D usually only take a few new grads a year and those grads usually know somebody at the hospital that get them "in".  I was at the top of my nursing class AND knew somebody at the hospital I applied and still didn't get a fellowship in L&D.  I did however get into the ICU, which is also extremely hard for a new grad.

    Even saying all of that, nursing is amazing and I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.  I did my senior practicum in L&D and have delivered lots of babies as a nursing student....it is awesome but sometimes also very very scary.  L&D is a very high stress unit to work. 

    You can do it if you really want to and it is a great career.  Just wanted to express the bad part of nursing and if you think you can deal with all the bad parts than go for it!  I've had so many people comment on how they think my job is so awesome and easy, when in reality it's a challenge every day that I go in. 

    Good luck if you decide to do it!

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  • purple_posiespurple_posies
    imageelectricdoctor83:

    This is going to be long because I am very passionate about this...... 

    I'm a nurse and I love my job, but I'm not going to lie....it's a HARD job.  I work in the Intensive Care Unit with very very sick patients (usually about to die and on a ventilator) so it's a little different than L&D.  I think that nursing is a great career but I think people think it's "easy" and "cool" and don't really think about what you will be doing realistically.  Nursing is not a good job for some people.  Here is a brief outline of the bad parts of nursing.....

    A nurse works 12 hour shifts that turn into 14-15 hours...it is often thankless, you will cry, you will get screamed at by patients, their families and doctors.  You will be degraded and made to feel like you are a idiot.  You will sometimes be so busy that you don't get to eat or use the restroom your entire shift. You will expose yourself to multiple diseases and health risks.  Sometimes the corners of my big toes bleed from my shoes.  You will do so much paperwork it will make you want kill yourself, you will have the most responsibility on your back with a very limited authority to actually do it, patients will die and you may blame yourself. The first time I ever had to care for a patient postmortem I was shaking from head to toe and threw up when we rolled the body into the bag. You will miss lots of family functions because you will have to work weekends and you will miss a lot of holidays too.

    Oh, and it's next to impossible to find a daycare center that can accomdate your changing schedule and hours....I couldn't find any.  Thankfully my MIL quit her job to watch our son.  It makes it worse to find daycare if your DH works weird hours or long hours.

    Another thing to think about before you decide to go into nursing is that L&D is next to impossible to get into right out of nursing school....you will probably have to do med-surg nursing for a number of years before being able to transfer to a labor and delivery unit.  Fellowships for L&D usually only take a few new grads a year and those grads usually know somebody at the hospital that get them "in".  I was at the top of my nursing class AND knew somebody at the hospital I applied and still didn't get a fellowship in L&D.  I did however get into the ICU, which is also extremely hard for a new grad.

    Even saying all of that, nursing is amazing and I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.  I did my senior practicum in L&D and have delivered lots of babies as a nursing student....it is awesome but sometimes also very very scary.  L&D is a very high stress unit to work. 

    You can do it if you really want to and it is a great career.  Just wanted to express the bad part of nursing and if you think you can deal with all the bad parts than go for it!  I've had so many people comment on how they think my job is so awesome and easy, when in reality it's a challenge every day that I go in. 

    Good luck if you decide to do it!

    I definitely didn't think it was going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy. But I completely didn't think about exposing myself to germs/diseases, and then being made to feel stupid by doctors.  I don't like to be made to feel like an idiot, because I know I'm a smart girl, I'm not stupid and I know it.

    I really appreciate your post, though!  It gave me some more things to think about while I go through this thought process ...

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