Catching Babies for a Living

A nurse opens up about preparing for the worst while keeping her patients calm

Welcome to Nurse Ascent, a twice-weekly newsletter created by nurses for nurses. This week, a nurse shares how she's known she wanted to work with babies since childhood and her journey to getting just there. We also share results from our recent feedback survey and highlight nurse staffing finally being recognized as a national performance goal.

But first, a moment to remember that special feeling...

Survey Results + More Ways to Share and Earn

Thanks to everyone who completed our recent reader survey — and congrats to our raffle winner, Maryanne (continue reading for more ways to earn!).

Here’s a quick look at what you told us:

You read Nurse Ascent for the jobs and for nurse day-in-the-life features.
Nearly 20 percent of you have already applied to roles we’ve shared.
You want to see more tailored jobs, as well as more education and professional-development resources.

Here’s what we’re working on:

Adding more jobs that reflect your interests, specialties and locations.
Featuring more professional-development content and concise, useful reads.
Keeping Nurse Ascent’s stories short, practical, and relatable.

As part of our effort to spotlight nurses, we’d love to feature you! Share your story by filling out our quick interview form, and you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a $50 gift card.

Thank you again for being part of the Nurse Ascent community.

— The Nurse Ascent Team

Featured Jobs

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RN - ICU, Ascension

Milwaukee, WI

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RN Long Term Care (LTC) - PRN, Good Samaritan

Canton, SD

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RN - Surgery, St. Joseph Hospital-St Charles

St. Charles, MO

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Nursing Assistant, Certified - FT FLEX, Good Samaritan

Park River, ND

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RN - Urology - PRN, Sanford Health

Bemidji, MN

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RN NICU, Terre Haute Regional Hospital

Terre Haute, IN

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Nurse Spotlight: Adriana Martinez RN, BSN

What I do for work

I work as a labor and delivery nurse, but within my job, I can also work with postpartum and antepartum patients too. I love my job and think it's very rewarding, despite the days when things can become stressful. Although this is not always the case, I’ve learned that things can go south quickly and to counter that, I like to make sure both myself and the patient feel prepared for what’s to come without creating unneeded anxiety.

How I got here

Ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to work with babies and always felt I have a special connection to them. I worked on a medical-surgical floor for a couple of years before I applied for this L&D residency out of state to begin my training in a new specialty. I honestly love any role that helps women feel empowered and think the L&D environment encourages a lot of educational opportunities and also holds a special connection between patients and their care team. A good mentor of mine says that people will always remember their birthing experience no matter what, and I feel honored to be a part of that journey with them.

Nurse Perks!

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🌍 Stay covered wherever you go, peace of mind for traveling nurses and health professionals.

🩷 Because you care for others every day, let these perks care for you.

More on Adriana

A day in my life

My days during work are always different and definitely keep me on my toes. Early on, I learned the importance of being prepared for the worst at any given moment. When I go into my patient's room for the first time, I like to make sure that all the emergency equipment is at bedside, including suction, rebreather mask, hemorrhage medications, necessary wires for a vacuum delivery, etc. Although I’m not sharing all this information with them as to not overwhelm them, I do love that so much of my role is patient education and supporting or empowering the mom during her labor process.

What I do for fun & to relax

On my days off, I love waking up early to have a cup of coffee and take my dog to the park or beach before running errands and cleaning the house. I try to always include my yoga practice into my daily routine because it’s one of the only things that keeps me sane and helps me destress. I’m new to the Seattle area and have been slowly building a community here. Even when I’m tired from work, I try to force myself to go to local events because it’s always worth it to meet new people and try out new hobbies.

Share your story & be entered to win

As part of our effort to spotlight nurses, we’d love to feature you in an upcoming issue of Nurse Ascent! Share your story by filling out our quick interview form, and you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a $50 gift card.

Headlines in Healthcare

Nurse staffing is a 2026 national performance goal

The Joint Commission — the nation’s leading hospital accreditation body — will, for the first time, require hospitals to meet specific nurse staffing standards starting in 2026. The update makes staffing a formal National Performance Goal, recognizing that having enough qualified nurses is essential to safe, high-quality patient care. The new standards also strengthen the role of nurse executives in overseeing staffing levels and competency across hospital departments.

Students quarantining from measles

Some schools in South Carolina are quarantining 153 unvaccinated students after exposure to measles, CBS News reports. Last week, health officials confirmed the state's 11th case of measles in South Carolina this year and the eighth case since September 25th. A release from the South Carolina Department of Public Health shared that there is active, unrecognized community transmission of measles occurring, making it vital to ensure that the public have received their measles vaccinations.

Spread of drug resistant pathogens

The World Health Organization released a report sharing the increase in spread of dangerous infections that do not respond to antibiotics. An increase of up to 15% per year has been affecting treatment for urinary tract infections, gonorrhea, E. coli and other pathogens that kill millions of people annually. According to the report, the drug resistance is found in 40% of the most common antibiotics used against these common infections.

Breast cancer detecting bra

The leader of the Women’s Health Initiative at the MIT Media Lab has shared their study revealing an invention: an ultrasound device that can be attached to a bra, designed to catch breast cancer early. This flexible patch attaches to clothes, allowing the wearer to move an ultrasound tracker and capture images of the breast tissue from different angles.

An image of author Katie Scoggins is pictured.

Meet the author:
Katie Scoggins
(RN, BSN & Health Writer)

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