Observations:
My day started out meeting Jen along with the rest of the staff and getting a tour of the
OB floor. I got to see a supply room, which had all different types of tools they used for labors.
Tools including: forceps, scissors, fetal monitors, umbilical clamps, and a urinary catheter. There
were so many more but who’s got the time? After seeing all of them and learning about what
each do, we got to work! We went to the break room and changed into some scrubs.
After getting into our scrubs we looked at our patients today. We had one patient who was was
only two centimeters dilated, another women who was eight centimeters, one that was five
centimeters, and one that was ten and ready to deliver! After going from room to room
introducing ourselves and asking what we could do to help, I got to help ladies get through their
contracts by showing them different ways to ease the pain, things like the pushing on their
knees to relieve back pain and helping them with the peanut ball. A peanut ball is just an
exercise ball that women can sit on to help them ease the pain from their contractions. After
helping the ladies with their pain, I followed Jen around giving the women pain medication like
Finally, one of the patients were ready to start pushing! As I entered the room, I put
gloves on my hands along with a face mask too. The OB/GYN, along with an OB/GYN intern,
walked in and started by talking to the soon-to-be mother. He told her what was going to go on
during the labor and what he was going to do after the labor, giving her all the information and
trying to settle her nerves a little. I didn’t hear much of what he was saying with all that was
going on, but I could tell that he was doing a good job of calming her down. While the doctor
was talking, the nurses set up the room. First we got the bed ready and took off the end so the
women could put her legs in the holders. Then we put protectors around the floor and a bag
hanging from the end of the bed to catch all the water and blood that comes out. Next we got
the tray ready by putting all the instruments laid out. Some of the instruments include: one mayo
scissors, one kelly clamp curve, one kelly clamp straight, rubber suction bulb, a lot of sterile
gauze, and gloves. After that, the OB/GYN’s started to put their clothing protectors on and
sterilize their hands to put their gloves on. It was time to start pushing! The mom pushed for
almost two hours. Jen told me that usually new moms push for longer. So while not much
progress was going on, we went on another trip around the rooms helping with labor pains and
monitoring the baby. We had put one of the women into the whirlpool, one of them one the
Hours went by and around nine o’clock the women who had been pushing since seven,
was getting really close to being a mom. I went back into the room and got to see the last
couple of pushes. As one nurse was holding one of the women’s legs and the husband was
holding the other leg, she gave two more strong pushes. Soon, the baby’s head came out and
then slowly the rest of the body came out too. The Dad cut the umbilical cord, with blood
splattering everywhere, the internal clipped the end of the umbilical cord that was left on the
baby. They set the baby on the mother’s chest, waiting for it to urinate or poop. We checked the
baby for vitals, weighed her, and took her measurements. While the OB/GYN pulled out the
placenta and showed it to the intern and I, he showed us the inside where the baby was and
then started to clean out the uterus and decide what kind of tear she had on her uterine wall.
We determined it was a second degree tear. While the OB/GYN was getting close to done, we
took the baby to get cleaned up. Jen and I gave the baby a bath and took her back to her
mother. By then it was ten-thirty and it was time to chart. Jen showed me where to put things
and what they mean, but as she was putting it in the computer, I got to into the nursery and hold
the babies until it was time to go. By the time we were almost ready to leave, two women were
already ten centimeters dilated and the other one was only at four centimeters. All of that was
Observations:
Today started out with getting in some scrubs. After we scrubbed in using this hard
textured soap up and down our arms, in between our fingers, and all around our hands. We did
this for about five minutes, making sure every spot is cleaned. Next, she told me today was
going to be interesting. We went into the break room to get up to speed on what was going on
today. Another nurse who had been there during the morning and day walked in to catch us up.
She told us about each mother and baby, then told us about their tests they received and the
results. She also told us what the stats of the baby and mom have been, along with what meds
After we were up to speed on what was going on, we got to work. The first thing we did
was go into the rooms and ask the women if there was anything we could get them. Since most
of the women had a lot of company, we didn’t want to take the baby away from them to do
assessments. We took the babies that were not being visited into the nursery to check their
vitals. We brought two babies into the nursery, first we checked their temperature and then we
checked their lungs and heart. We kept them in the nursery for a while after so the mom could
get some rest and something to eat. During this time, I got to hold and rock the babies while Jen
did more assessments on the other babies that were there. After all the babies went back to
their mothers, we had to do assessments on the moms. To assess the mom, Jen took her blood
pressure, checked her heart, and then checked where her uterus is. To check where her uterus
was, Jen put her hand on the mom's stomach under the belly button to push and feel if the
uterus was going back to regular size. At this point all moms and babies were healthy and doing
well. For a while after finishing assessments, Jen charted and I got to talk to her about what her
It was around seven o’clock when a woman called to say that she was coming in
because was having some discomfort in her stomach. We pulled up her chart and saw that she
has had three miscarriages. To set up her room, we put sheets on the bed, a robe for her to
change into, and an ultrasound machine to find out what the baby was doing. While we waited
for her to get there, we answered bedside calls. Before she arrived we had contacted the
woman's OB/GYN to let him know that she was coming in and to see if there was anything
special he would like us to do or discuss with her. At around eight thirty she came up the
elevator and we showed her to her room to help her get into her robe and into the bed. We put
the ultrasound gel on the woman's stomach where her uterus is. We turned the ultrasound
machine on and used the transducer probe to see inside the uterus. It turns out that the woman
was undergoing a lot of stress and that was why she was having so much discomfort. Jen
helped her by telling her some ways she can deal with stress and to stay away from things that
stress her out. She was discharged and sent home after we monitored her for a while.
At nine o’clock we went around the rooms again to make sure the moms and babies
were doing okay. We took one baby boy that we were not able to get assessments on before
because of the many visitors he had. We did the regular assessments but found that the baby
had a low temperature. As I wrapped him up and sat with him under the warm lights, Jen went
to check on the room that he was staying in. She came back and told me that the mom was so
hot she turned it down because she sweats so much. Jen told me “one of the hardest things
was having to tell mothers that their babies have this or are doing this because of something
they are doing or did.” For the rest of the time I sat under the warm lights with the baby boy and
talked to Jen.
Time: 3:00 PM-7:00 PM
Observations:
Today was the most exciting day I had at the hospital. We got up to the floor and there
were people everywhere. Jen told me that it was going to be a really busy day and that I would
get to see things that she hasn’t ever shown anyone else. We got into our scrubs and scrubbed
in, this only took us seven minutes because we were in a rush to go help. We got out to the floor
and went into the break room to get Jen and I caught up on what was going on. We had seven
patients, with three that have given birth already. We went to check on our patients who have
not given birth yet, we had two who were eight centimeters dilated. I went with another nurse to
evaluate and give shots to a baby boy. We went into his room to grab him from his mom, then
took him to the nursery. First, we checked his temperature by putting a thermometer under his
armpit. Next, we checked his lungs and heart by listening through a stethoscope. After finishing
that, we checked his ears. We used a Otoacoustic Emissions, which is a tool that measures the
sound waves in ears. The baby had to score an eight in each ear to be good, he scored an eight
in the right but a four in the left. After charting those tests, we gave him his influenza shot. He
now was all done with his evaluation, so we took him back to his room. When on our way out
Jen called me over because a women was coming in with her baby girl, who has
hyperbilirubinemia. The mother and baby came up the elevator, she stepped off and the baby
was the color of a pumpkin. We brought her into the nursery and put an IV in her, then we put
her under bili lights. We left her under there for hours.
Finally, one of our labor patients were at ten centimeters and ready to push. We walked
in the room, got our gloves and our face masks ready. Now, she has already been pushing for a
while before I walked in, so I didn’t see anything preceding up to the moment. The doctor told
her “one more push” and she gave one more big one. Next thing you know, there was a
beautiful baby girl in the doctor’s hands. The dad cut the umbilical cord and we set the baby on
the mom, so it could urinate or stool. We checked the baby and made sure to make her cry, so
she could clear her lungs. As all was good with the mom and the baby, the doctor stitched the
mom up while we checked the baby’s lungs and heart. We left the room to give the parents time
with their new baby girl. We came back a few minutes later so that we could clean the baby up
and take her vitals. We took her to the nursery and gave her a bath. Then we took her vitals by
checking her temperature, lungs, heart, and blood pressure. We rolled her back into the parents
and checked the mom’s vitals, we took blood pressure, checked her heart and lungs, and gave
After all the assessments on our patients were done, we had to go help a new nurse
handle a patient who was pregnant but also had a drug problem. She was so uncomfortable it
took us three to try to help her. She was ready to give birth and kept asking for drugs, but we
had to watch what we were giving her to make sure it was safe. While Jen set up the whirlpool
and the other nurse called the OB/GYN to ask a question the soon-to-be mom was insisting on
knowing, I did get to help her do some stretches and exercises that helped with the pain she
was having. Jen did tell me that “these women are harder to deal with because not only are they
going through labor, but they aren’t allowed to do drugs anytime during the labor so it’s difficult
for them.” After we got out of the room it was eleven o’clock and I was ready to go home.
I learned a lot through these three days of shadowing.During the experience I could see
myself going into the medical field. Throughout my time, I got to see what it was like being an