Labor and delivery nurses also go by the name of perinatal nurses, to know more about them read the labor and delivery nurse job description. This will provide you with accurate information about this profession as it is a specialist nurse position. These specialist nurses provide care in a particular field. In the case of labor nurses, they provide care in the perinatal department.
The labor and delivery nurses take care of pregnant women when they come into the hospital for delivery. They have to get them admitted in a ward and monitor their condition. Some women get admitted on their said due date, the nurses have to keep them under observation and have to inform the doctor when their water breaks. The ones who are already in a state of labor; the nurses will check if they are dilated 10 cm, and if they are, the nurses rush them towards the delivery room.
The nurses should be able to use all fetal monitoring equipment. These equipments are used to monitor the health of the fetus, and the overall development of them in their mother's womb. If they notice any complications, they have to inform the doctor about it. They should also be able to interpret the pathological test done by the patients.
The labor and delivery nurses then assist the doctor in the delivery. Once the baby is delivered, the nurses clean off all the amniotic fluid on the baby, and hand them over to their mothers. If the child is underweight or is a premature baby, the doctor will ask the nurse to put them in the incubator. The nurses then have to monitor the baby when they are in the incubator. Once the babies are back to full health, the nurses then hand them over to their mother's care. These are the most common duties in a labor and delivery nurse job description.
They have to monitor the vital stats of the new born child and the mother, and report it to the doctor. If the patient is a first time mother, the nurses have to teach them the proper method of breast feeding, and also tell them the number of times they are supposed to feed the baby. They also have to process the discharge papers of the patient. There are many more duties regarding perinatal care, to know them all, read the labor and delivery nurse job description given below in bulleted format.
Duties and responsibilities
The labor and delivery nurses make a good salary as this is a specialist job. There is good demand for this profession, especially in the developing countries, as the population tends to increase in countries with better economies.
Education
Career Advancement
The labor and delivery nurses get seniority in their jobs and get promoted to head nurses. They get better salaries and benefits in theses position. Some also become nurse trainers.
The labor and delivery nurse job description is to assist the doctors during delivery and also take care of the new born child and mother after the delivery.