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What To Consider Before Becoming a Maternity Nurse

Believe it or not, there’s plenty more to working as a maternity nurse than cuddling babies all day. As a current or future nursing student about to decide on your specialty, there’s a lot expected out of you, including incredibly long hours and more daunting tasks. Here’s our guide on what to consider before becoming a maternity nurse.

Being Present in a Life Event

When on the job as a maternity nurse, you’re likely to experience plenty of exciting life events, especially when you’re helping those who are becoming first-time parents. However, these life events come with a ton of pressure. Working in this career will provide you with a lot of different reactions, experiences, and moments where you learn valuable life lessons. As a maternity nurse, you need to have the ability to console a patient that loses their child, and you need to be able to put a smile on your face at the breath of a new life.

Long Hours Equals Stress

Can you handle stress while under pressure? If so, then you might make it as a maternity ward nurse. Stress also comes with long hours, and when you’re not working, you’re sleeping. Regardless of how tired you are or how many hours you have worked, the most important characteristic a nurse must have is compassion. That compassion needs to translate into showing patient dignity while going from room to room helping doctors.

Relationships Are Important To Patients and Staff

If you have trouble forming close relationships with peers, you might have trouble fitting in as a maternity nurse. When you work as a maternity nurse, you need to be willing to get comfortable, let loose, and engage in open dialogue. Remember that, as a maternity nurse, the job is not just about playing with babies; it’s about building relationships and communicating with your coworkers.

Can You Handle Messes?

A maternity nursing job is challenging and rewarding. As a maternity nurse, you’re expected to get messy and even clean up messes. For instance, when you’re in a room with a patient, you don’t only take the newborn away to get cleaned and place it in a blanket; you also encounter postpartum bleeding, formula, baby spit-up, and more. In fact, you’ll likely want to shower immediately after you leave work.

One final thing to consider is that you learn a lot more as a maternity nurse in the field than in a classroom. When it comes to what to consider before becoming a maternity nurse, we want you to know what to expect before you decide to become a maternity ward nurse.

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Written by Logan Voss

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