Labor and Delivery Nurses: Do you like your job?

I have thought I would like to become a nurse and work in Labor and Delivery- do you like your job? What other departments are most fun/interesting/fulfilling????

I positively love working as a L&D nurse. I just was not cut out to be a "sick, old people" nurse, lol. I worked in cardiac step-down for awhile, and hated every minute of it.

I love working with the families. It's generally a happy, exciting time. I love that I only usually have one patient to care for, so I can devote all my attention to them and make them feel well attended to and cared for. Birth is a scary time for many women, and it's a good feeling to be able to be there to answer their questions, ease some of their worries and stress, etc.

I work in a hospital connected to one of the best NICU / Childrens Hospitals in the country, so we get a lot of high-risk pregnancies, we get more than the average number of multiple births, stillbirths, babies with congential problems, etc, so I see more bad outcomes than other L&D nurses might see. It's very emotionally challenging at times, but I feel very strongly that working with these families is so important, and as sad as it can be, I know my work is important, especially to these families. I also find these cases to be very spiritually moving. There is no greater honor than to be in the room when a life enters the world and leaves it behind within a matter of moments, to be a part of that process. I cry with my patients. I sit in bed with them sometimes and hold them if they need me to. I do whatever I need to help them get through it.

Working in any nursing position has it's ups and downs, and all nursing jobs have some degree of stress. But you learn to manage it. You focus on the positive outcomes.