I don't see a problem starting out on a Mother/Baby Unit (I've worked with many new grads who have done this), but I will tell you that the best nurses we oriented to Mom/Baby had that Med/Surg background.

Don't be fooled by the Mom/Baby concept. Moms & babies experience complications after birth, and often require procedures that are medically complex. If you spend time on a Med/Surg unit, you will learn the fundamentals and will learn how to handle a complex assignment of 6-8 patients. The last Mother/Baby Unit I worked on required their nurses to manage 4-5 couplets (that's 8-10 patients), so organizational skills and managing priorities are imperative for you to learn. Balance that with having to learn how to admit and discharge nearly your whole assignment in a 12 hour shift, and you are a set up for frustration, and feeling overwhelmed. I can't tell you how many times I worked with nurses on Mom/Baby who couldn't handle something as simple as a Heparin drip. And where do you think you will learn to recognize things like a PE or ARDs, if you don't spend some time learning the basics?

NO ONE says you have to work in a nursing home. But I wouldn't degrade the experience you can get from working an a medical unit.

And as an FYI, I cleaned up more pee and poop when I worked Mom/Baby than in any other job I've had in nursing. Not every Mom wants their babies in the room 24 hours a day . . . And there are CNAs in an LTC to help with those jobs.

Feedback on Mom/Baby unit
Thanks Gingersnap for the reply - I have thought of such things. Luckily, my 2nd choice at the hospital is avail. This would be a Med/Surg floor but I would be cross trained in Peds as this floor is the only one to accomodate any peds patients. So this was the next best option.