Thanks to all of you who have written encouraging notes or who have
empathized with me in my frustrations at dealing with hospital practices
that are the antithesis of my training and of what I read in the recent
scientific literature.

I am trying to move back away from the trees and look at the forest in
hopes of reassessing a realistic strategy to communicate my needs and
frustrations more effectively to management.  I am currently writing a
list of everything I think needs fixing and what kind of solutions I
feel will and will not work.

There are a lot of nurses, educators and administrative people in the
hospitals where I work who really do believe breastfeeding is
important.  However, a lot of things have happened in the last year hat
have caused breastfeeding to be put on the back burner.  I accepted this
for a while, but know that for the sake of  the moms and babies, I must
present a realistic proposal to get things moving again.

I have tried putting together a task force.  It seems impossible to get
enough people together at any one day and time to get anything
accomplished, and I end up doing all the work.  Yes, I know I need to
delegate, but I have tried and it always seems to end up back in my lap.

I am a lot better at writing than I am at talking, especially to my
superiors.  Therefore, I am thinking of writing something up and
presenting it to my immediate supervisor.  I would like to present it to
the OB supervisors, clinical director, and nurse educators in the OB
department at each hospital (some work both hospitals, as I do.) after
that.

One of my problems is trying to prioritize and knowing how much to
present and how.  Do you think this is a good approach?  Would you list
problems and suggestions in terms of priorities?  in terms of a 2, 3,
5-year plan?  Would you list all problems or just main categories?
After you presented it, how would you go about making your case for how
important it was and how you needed everyone's help?  I know that money
is the biggest issue.

I'm trying to decide if I should work evenings or nights for a while.  I
have worked those shifts most of my nursing career and in many ways
wouldn't mind doing so.  What are your thoughts on this?  TIA to all who
share ideas.

--
Bonnie Jones, RN, ICCE, IBCLC
from the sunny S.W. USA
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