RNC-OB case studies
RNC-OB · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The RNC-OB (Inpatient Obstetric Nursing Certification) is a specialty credential for registered nurses who care for women and newborns through labor, birth, and the postpartum stay. It is administered by the National Certification Corporation and is designed for nurses with real inpatient obstetric experience who want independent validation of their clinical judgment - not for entry-level nurses still building basic intrapartum skills. The exam samples the whole arc of inpatient obstetric care: antepartum assessment and complications, intrapartum monitoring and management, postpartum recovery and hemorrhage risk, newborn transition and adaptation, and the professional-practice layer - patient safety, evidence-based practice, communication, and quality improvement. Items are multiple-choice and scenario-driven, so most questions ask you to interpret a clinical picture and pick the next best action rather than to recall a definition. The RNC-OB case studies are 5 cases and about 3,835 words.
1Severe-Range Blood Pressure at 33 Weeks: Deliver, Wait, or Discharge?
33 weeks 4 days, G2P1, admitted to triage after an abnormal office reading. Two readings four hours apart: 162/104 and 156/98.
772 words, about 4 min2Tachysystole with Recurrent Lates on Oxytocin
39 weeks 2 days, augmented with oxytocin at 12 mU/min for six hours. Over the last 30 minutes the tocodynamometer shows 12 contractions in 20 minutes, averaging 70 seconds.
788 words, about 4 min3Postpartum Hemorrhage in a Patient Who Cannot Receive Methergine
Vaginal birth 90 minutes ago after a 14-hour induction; 3,860 g; second-degree laceration repaired and intact. Oxytocin 10 units IM at birth, no infusion running.
735 words, about 4 min4Late-Preterm Newborn of a Diabetic Mother with Risk Factors for Sepsis
Term 39 weeks by dates, birth weight 4,180 g, mother with pre-gestational type 1 diabetes (A1c 8.4% at 28 weeks) and a positive rectovaginal GBS culture. Penicillin G was started two hours before birth - only one dose.
743 words, about 4 min5A Tenfold Oxytocin Programming Error Discovered at Handoff
Induction at 41 weeks for post-term gestation. Order: oxytocin 30 units in 500 mL lactated Ringer's, start at 2 mU/min, titrate by 2 mU/min every 30 minutes.
797 words, about 4 min