Obstetric Nursing

Obstetric nursing provides support for ob-gyn practitioners. Increasingly, nurses are finding themselves in charge of many tasks that physicians themselves used to perform, and obstetrics is no exception. This is a result of the heavy workloads placed on staff in most medical environments, including hospitals, clinics, and even private practices. These workloads show no signs of decreasing, only increasing, as the nursing shortage continues and patient populations grow.

Thus, nurses need to be prepared more than ever before, even as the job grows busier and more stressful. Continuing education and refresher courses are part and parcel of the successful nursing career. Too many changes are continually occurring in the medical field for nurses to be able to merely rely on what they learned in school. Instead, nurses must continually refresh their expertise, and having condensed reference guides is a guide idea in these situations. For those studying obstetric nursing, have condensed study guides is almost essential, as it is nearly impossible to get through the thousands of pages of required reading, let alone remember any of it. Having easy to reference study guides can make a serious difference in the success of one's nursing education.

The Field of Obstetric Nursing

Obstetric nurses are expected to demonstrate mastery in numerous areas of knowledge, including the female reproductive system, fetal growth and development, the effects of pregnancy on the mother, labor, and post-partum issues. They must know how to measure nutrition levels in both mother and fetus, as well as educate expectant mothers on good health habits during pregnancy.

Special situations are also included in the obstetric nurse's field of expertise. These include menstrual problems in the expectant mother, at-risk pregnancy, labor emergencies such as premature delivery, and post-partum complications in the fetus. They also include congenital and acquired diseases in the fetus, and problems the mother may experience after the pregnancy has ended, such as post-partum depression.