Recently, I was able to speak with Ms. Sarah Cockerham about her career as a labor and delivery nurse. Ms. Cockerham has been working as a nurse for over 14 years, specifically as a labor and delivery nurse for 11 years. In our conversation, she explained her numerous duties as a nurse, her personal background and feelings about the field, what kind of schooling is needed, and how the field has changed over her career.
“Could you explain a bit about what you do?”
“I am a labor and delivery nurse. I have different roles on the floor; sometimes I am the charge nurse and sometimes I am a floor nurse. As a floor nurse, I do anything from laboring patients until they have their baby, help with delivery (both natural and cesarean), and triage.
“In labor and delivery, it is probably the only role in nursing where you do triage, floor nursing, what we call step-down nursing, pre-op, PACU, and circulation. We have a lot of different roles that we’re trained to do.
“When you labor somebody, sometimes they come in and they’re already in labor and you help them cope with the pain they’re feeling. Some people want medicine for the pain they’re feeling and some people do not and they want to work on position changes and doing things that will help bring the baby down naturally.
“Other patients may come in for inductions for various medical reasons, whether it’s because the baby is sick or if the parent is sick. I work in a transfer facility where we get a lot of sick transfers through our NICU, so we see a lot more sick people than other hospitals might.
“Some patients have to go back for a c-sections—a cesarean section—say when a patient comes in and the baby is breech or the baby is not tolerating labor or the parent has a complication that requires an emergent c-section. That changes the plan, so then I become an operating circulating nurse. I can actually be the surgical tech, which is the person who scrubs in alongside the providers and I’m the one who gives them instruments.
“As a triage nurse, I see the patient when they first come onto the floor and it is my responsibility to evaluate them and look at them and say which person needs to be seen first. I figure out their reason for coming in; if they might have broken their water or if they might be in what’s called pre-term labor, which is labor before 36 weeks. If they’ve got bleeding, if they’re not feeling their baby move, any kind of concern that they would come in with that’s obstetrical, I would decide (if there are multiple patients) who needs to be seen first.
“I’m usually a charge nurse at least one of my two shifts. As a charge nurse, we get a rundown of the board. I would get a report about every patient on the board and anything that stands out as a potential complication or reason why they are there specifically. I have to decide how to assign the board and whether one nurse can be assigned to two patients. Floor nurses will also come to me with any updates, if they need an extra set of hands, and whenever it is time for a baby to be delivered.
“Did you always know that you wanted to go into healthcare or did you ever consider any other fields?”
“When I first started college, I thought I wanted to do psychology. I was torn between psychology and teaching. I ended up going the path of psychology, and then I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do.
“I don’t remember the moment I thought I wanted to do healthcare, but I do remember saying ‘I’m transferring to go to nursing school.’ I was going to Appalachian State, and they did not have a nursing program, so I transferred to do nursing.
“I don’t have anybody in my family that does nursing. I know a lot of people that do it have either doctors or nurses or somebody in the healthcare field [in their family]. I don’t remember why I wanted to do nursing, but I’m glad I made the decision.”
“What drew you to labor and delivery specifically?”
“Women’s health. I’ve always wanted to do women’s health. I feel like labor and delivery encompasses a lot of the things we do with women’s health. We talk to them about not just labor and delivery but receiving care prior to future pregnancies. We talk to them about women’s wellness. We even do breast examinations in labor and delivery since it’s a little bit different when they’re pregnant or lactating. We talk to them about their mental health and stability.
“I’ve always said that, number one, I’m an advocate for women’s health. A lot of people, not just women, go through traumas growing up and when they come to labor and delivery, a place where they’re very vulnerable, a lot of those things can resurface. So that’s where the psychology aspect plays a part.
“I know that being able to properly advocate for patients is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
“Could you explain what the schooling looks like for nursing?”
“It’s changed a lot since when I went to school. You used to get an associate degree from a community college or go and get your bachelor’s. I got my bachelor’s because I always thought I wanted to go back to school to either get into teaching or to get my master’s and become a midwife. I went into labor and delivery thinking that I was going to go back and become a midwife.
“Now, they require you to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, so it’s a four-year program. The first few years are typically your prerequisites where you get your basic level math, English, and electives. You do statistics, health assessment, pharmacology, and once you get through that, you apply to get into the upper-division nursing program.
Part 2 will be uploaded 3/21
About The Author
Oliver Ewy is currently a junior at Northwood High School. He has an interest in various scientific fields and would like to work in medicine in the future.
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