The OB/GYN nursing specialty is an important one, with a diverse range of roles and responsibilities. When working as an OB/GYN nurse, you’ll help women (or people assigned female at birth) care for their reproductive health throughout their lives, potentially including pregnancy and birth.
And if you’ve considered the specialty but found yourself asking, “What do OB/GYN nurses do?” keep reading: We’ve got all the answers you need.
What Is the OB/GYN Nursing Field?
OB/GYN stands for “obstetrics and gynecology,” but this specialty is almost always referred to as “OB/GYN” or simply “OB.”
Although they are usually grouped into one specialty, obstetrics is the practice of caring for women and babies during pregnancy and childbirth, whereas gynecology is the practice of treating female reproductive conditions.
OB/GYN nurses assist physicians in a number of different medical settings, depending on the specific type of OB/GYN nurse job they choose.
Types of OB/GYN Nurse Jobs
An important caveat to answering the question “What do OB/GYN nurses do?” requires us to niche down, looking at job roles based on the types of OB/GYN nurse jobs you’re considering. Let’s look at the most common jobs in the field and what’s involved with each.
In-Office OB/GYN Nurse
In-office OB/GYN nurses work in private practices alongside a doctor or nurse practitioner (NP) specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.
Unlike those in many other specialties, like cardiology or gastroenterology, in-office OB/GYN physicians see patients even when there is nothing wrong. It’s encouraged to have a “well-woman” visit annually to check for conditions like breast, ovarian, or uterine cancer. So, like internal medicine or family practice nurses, you’re likely to have some patients that you will see for years or decades.
Some patients, however, may have concerns or conditions that need to be diagnosed, treated, or otherwise managed.
As a result, OB/GYN nurses who choose an in-office job may have the following job responsibilities:
- Recording a patient’s medical history
- Checking patient vitals, including temperature and blood pressure
- Asking about a patient’s concerns
- Helping to put nervous patients at ease before or during an appointment
- Assisting the physician with well-women visits, both as a witness and as an extra set of hands
- Helping to provide family planning and answering basic questions that the patient may have
Hospitalist OB/GYN Nurse
OB/GYN nurses can work in outpatient facilities or in hospitals exclusively. In these cases, they may be working with patients who have either emergent conditions or who need specialized treatments or surgeries.
They may be responsible for the following tasks:
- Obtaining a patient’s history and taking their vitals
- Placing intravenous devices (IVs) and administering medication
- Monitoring a patient’s pain levels
- Monitoring a patient’s healing post-surgery or procedure
- Helping patients through labor and delivery
- Monitoring patients after their delivery
- Providing patient education about what to expect after they’re discharged
Some nurses may also assist during surgical procedures.
Fertility OB/GYN Nurse
Some OB/GYN nurses will work in a clinic specializing exclusively in fertility care.
These nurses work alongside physicians with the goal of helping their patients have healthy, viable pregnancies.
Some patients may require help getting pregnant because they’re looking for a sperm donor, though some may struggle to conceive. Others may struggle to have viable pregnancies, and some may have genetic conditions that require in vitro fertilization (IVF) and genetic testing to ensure that the condition will not be passed on to the child.
Fertility nurses may have the following job roles:
- Recording patient history and taking patient vitals
- Leading infertility support groups
- Assisting patients through the egg donation process
- Providing patient education about fertility plans and processes
- Assisting in fertility procedures, including embryo transfers
- Calling patients with some updates about a given process or answering questions on-call about medications and the potential side effects
- Teaching patients how to administer medication
OB/GYN Oncology Nurse
OB/GYN oncology nurses work with patients who have cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, vulvar, and fallopian tube cancer during their diagnostic and treatment process.
Their job roles may include the following:
- Monitoring patients before, during, or after treatment
- Administering IVs and medications, potentially including chemotherapy or radiation
- Helping doctors with biopsies or surgery
- Facilitating care with other physicians on the patient’s care team
- Providing patient education throughout the process, including what to do after discharge
- Monitoring a patient’s wound or surgical site
- Acting as a source of support for the patient during their treatment (remember that laughter can be healing in and of itself!)
Labor & Delivery
Labor and delivery (L&D) nursing is really its own specialty, but we wanted to include it here as it’s relevant to the OB/GYN field.
L&D nurses work exclusively in birthing centers, birthing hospitals, or the L&D section of a general hospital, and they only work with mothers during and immediately after the birthing process. Both mom and baby will be the L&D nurse’s patients.
L&D nurses often have the following job responsibilities:
- Triaging patients as they come into L&D
- Monitoring patients through labor, including the health of mom and baby
- Helping laboring moms with pain management
- Doing their best to help moms stick to their birth plan
- Helping with active labor and birth
- Caring for the baby immediately post-birth, including cleaning and weighing the baby
- Providing patient education to help new parents settle into their roles
- Monitoring the health of both mom and baby following birth
- Providing care instructions for discharge
