Neonatal Nurse Has ‘Greatest Job in the World’
In the 1960s, when Nancy Vahldieck, R.N., was making her career decision, three choices were available for women: teacher, secretary or nurse. Vahldieck didn’t demur — she’d wanted to be a nurse as long as she could remember.
“I was constantly bandaging my dolls and dog when I was a little girl,” Vahldieck said. “I always loved children and knew I wanted to work with them. I ended up with babies, which is just wonderful!”
Vahldieck completed a three-year nursing program at Lutheran Hospital and then began working as an obstetrics nurse in 1974. She has worked in the nursery, in postpartum gynecology, as a scrub assistant for an OB/GYN and in prenatal teaching in a physician’s office. Since 1982, Vahldieck has been working at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis in both the well-baby nursery and the special care nursery. She delivered both of her children there in 1979 and 1981 and knew it was where she wanted to spend her career.
“They need to love babies, enjoy teaching and mothering new moms, and have the ability to remain calm in an emergency,” she said. “An OB nurse must be able to quickly assess a situation and react appropriately. With a newborn — a new life — you have five minutes to make sure the baby is OK.” |
“If I’m on the well-baby nursery, my duties include assessing the new babies, conferring with the doctors and teaching the new moms,” Vahldieck said. “If the baby was delivered by Caesarean, I take the baby as soon as it is delivered, dry it off and make sure it’s warm. I check to be sure it is active, has a good heartbeat and is breathing properly. We’re very big on bonding here, so I make sure the baby bonds with the mother as soon as possible after birth.
“In the special care nursery, the babies usually have been born prematurely or have a medical problem requiring special care. Preemies may be on ventilators to help them breathe. The special care babies usually stay with us until they are breathing on their own, they can stay warm in a regular bed, they are able to nipple every feeding, and they are eating and gaining weight. If a baby is extremely sick or needs surgery, St. Anthony’s is partnered with SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, and the baby is transferred there.”
Vahldieck sees a big part of her role in OB nursing as a teacher for new moms, whether it’s helping them learn to breast-feed, showing them how to care for a newborn or explaining what to look for in terms of the baby’s health.
“Our job is to teach parents what to do,” Vahldieck said. “Babies don’t come with a manual. We’re the manual to teach them what they need to know about caring for their babies. We have a lactation specialist on staff, so we have a good success rate for breast-feeding moms. We also have a care center where the new moms can come for a free visit when the baby is a week old to ask questions or check to see if the baby is nursing correctly. Most first-time moms take advantage of that.”
Anyone considering a career in OB nursing should have certain qualities, Vahldieck said.
“They need to love babies, enjoy teaching and mothering new moms, and have the ability to remain calm in an emergency,” she said. “An OB nurse must be able to quickly assess a situation and react appropriately. With a newborn — a new life — you have five minutes to make sure the baby is OK.”
After working nights for 16 years so she could be home during the days with her two daughters, Vahldieck now works three 12-hour day shifts per week.
“I like working days at St. Anthony’s because we’re more hands-on,” she said. “We spend time with each new mom and baby and get more involved with the families.”
The best part of her job, she says, is watching parents interact with their baby for the first time.
“When a newborn with special needs has to remain in the nursery for an extended period, we all become surrogate moms and grandmas, and it’s hard when the baby leaves,” Vahldieck said. “Each one is so special and unique — a real miracle. I’ve always loved being around babies. I can’t get enough of them, and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.
I have the greatest job in the world,” Vahldieck said.
###
Learn More About Becoming A Nurse
