Labor and Delivery Nurse Interview

Meet Priscilla! Like Kimberly, Priscilla and I went to nursing school together. We actually met the very first week of freshman year--in Chemistry lab! After many successful (and some not-so-successful) lab projects, we became great friends: encouraging each other through tough nursing classes, jamming together, and discussing life. She has had a dream of becoming a Labor and Delivery nurse since before I met her, and it has been so neat to see her live that out.

What type of nursing do you do? 

I am a labor and delivery nurse on a large L&D unit in SC.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and why you chose that specialty? 

I always loved the OB specialty, even when I was a child. My brother was born when I was 7, and I very clearly remember going with my mom to her doctor appointments, seeing the ultrasounds being done, and just absolutely loving all the excitement during my mom's pregnancy. I had a lot of curiosity about OB, and I would tell my friends that when I grew up, I wanted to deliver babies! 

During nursing school, I loved every moment of the OB class and had some really cool experiences in clinical. But when I graduated in 2016, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do at first because there were SO many options in the world of nursing! Initially, I wanted to work in the Cardiovascular ICU (CVICU) because that was where I did my practicum, but that didn't work out, so I applied to other ICU's and a few med-surg floors. Eventually I got hired to a neuro/stroke step-down unit. I didn't enjoy the patient population on that floor, but while I was there, I was able to narrow my interests down to the main OR and labor and delivery. It was really awesome to see how God directed my steps, because when I was looking to apply to these two areas, the only area that was hiring was the OR. I put off applying to the OR for a month or two, but finally God showed me I just had to go for it! When I logged onto the hospital’s website, there had just been a position posted for labor and delivery that very day, so I applied to both jobs, and the only area to contact me was Labor and Delivery. Labor and Delivery offered me the position, God gave me so much peace about it, and I accepted! After being on Labor and Delivery for 1.5 years, I still can say that I truly love this specialty.

How is your specialty unique to other types of nursing? What are some of its challenges and rewards?

Labor and Delivery is an emotional place. Because of that, it is both challenging and rewarding. One of my managers said it best: "Labor and Delivery nurses get to be with their patients during some of the very best moments of their lives and during some of the very worst moments as well. Either way, these are moments the patients will never forget." There is truly nothing like watching a dad cry after his baby is born, or watching a mom light up as she begins to successfully breastfeed for the first time. There is nothing so rewarding as to work very hard with a mom whose cervix is changing extremely slowly and doing everything you can as a nurse to help her deliver vaginally, and then check her and find that she is finally completely dilated and ready to push! There is nothing so rewarding as to see a bad fetal heart rate strip and to do everything you can to resuscitate the baby (even taking the patient back for an emergency c/section), and then to your relief seeing the baby come out crying (knowing that if it wasn't for your hard work, the baby could have died). There is also nothing like seeing a mother and father weep over a 19-week miscarriage or a full-term stillbirth. There is nothing like seeing a perfectly healthy mother die after being coded multiple times due to a amniotic fluid embolism. There is nothing like doing CPR on a chalk-white newborn, and praying over them that they will take a breath and that their heart will start/keep beating (and if they are resuscitated, that they will not have long-term deficits from being apneic for so long).

Did you work in another specialty before going to this one? If so, how did your prior experience help you prepare for what you do now?

Working as a neuro nurse helped me polish some nursing skills and prepared me for pregnant patients who have seizures, strokes, and other neurological problems. It also helped prepare me to compassionately care for patients that are on street drugs, or need to be restrained.

Is your current job a step towards a bigger goal?

I would like to become a Certified Nurse-Midwife in a few years, and ultimately provide care to pregnant patients on the mission field (possibly in South America). I am in the process of looking into schools and plan to move this year to a different state in preparation for grad school.

Did you need special certifications to work where you do? If so, how did you get them?

At my hospital, we are required to be certified in Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), and Neonatal Resuscitation Protocol (NRP). The hospital provides and pays for each of those certifications.

What is a "typical" shift like?

Labor and delivery is very challenging, stressful, and exciting because you truly never know what a shift could hold. The unit could be very busy or almost empty (regardless of how busy it was the previous shift or even just an hour before shift change)! 

At my hospital, we are assigned to one of 4 areas: Triage, the labor and delivery rooms, the operating room (OR), or float (i.e. helping wherever help is needed). We also are sometimes needed to care for pregnant patients in the ICU, working hand-in-hand with the ICU nurses. In addition, we sometimes float to other areas of the women's floor (Mom/Baby and High Risk) when their staffing is low. And if that wasn't enough variety for you, we also are currently assisting with staffing a new smaller hospital within our hospital system, and are sometimes assigned to float there to help in their triage, labor and delivery rooms, OR, or Mom/Baby floor. 

In addition to the variety of assignments, you never know exactly what a patent's outcome will be. She may wind up with an emergency c/section, she may deliver in a birthing tub, she may require a forceps/vacuum extraction, and/or she may deliver in a bed with an epidural. Her cervix may change very fast, or very slow, or not at all. She may push for hours, or for a minute. She may hemorrhage after delivery, or bleed very little. And even if the baby's fetal heart rate strip looked good during the entire shift, you never know if the baby will come out crying or have to be resuscitated. There is absolutely no certainty in labor and delivery! As a Labor and Delivery nurse, you have to be extremely flexible, on your A-game, and ready for anything!

What would you tell a nursing student interested in your specialty? 

Be proactive during OB clinical. If you hear of an emergency c/section, run with them. If you hear of someone being admitted, try to start their IV. Watch as many procedures and deliveries as you possibly can, because there is so much that happens in Labor and Delivery! A lot of students get bored in labor and delivery because it is either crazy insane with nurses running everywhere or dead quiet with all the nurses just sitting and waiting for their patients to deliver. Either way, ask questions and try to see as much as you can. During your other clinicals and practicum, practice IV starts. And if the hospital near you doesn't have any labor and delivery positions when you graduate, don't be discouraged. Get your foot in the door by working somewhere else in the hospital, and if you want to transfer later on, you should be able to! "Extra" experience doesn't hurt. I work with nurses who transferred from pulmonary med-surg, cardiac med-surg, neuro/stroke step-down, and the neuro ICU!

Any thing else you would like to share?

Some days I come home sad, some days I come home happy, and most days I come home exhausted, but it is all so worth it, and I really truly do love what I do!

Can't you just hear her love and excitement for her specialty! I love that! If you have any questions for Priscilla, you can contact her on Instagram @nursegirrl21