I became a hospital LC in 1986 when it was all new. There wasn't any job description to speak of and the job just evolved. The hospital and staff had tons of bad BF info, habits and policies. I started out seeing every BF mom with follow-up phone calls. I gradually insinuated myself into the pp scene, shared with staff who seemed interested. After a couple of years had some very enthusiastic staff who were picking up lots. Was asked by admin to do inservices, work on policies and procedures. Began pp BF classes on the floor, saw only moms who asked or nurses referred. Hosp did an area wide BF conf when Protect, Support and Promote first came out. So briefly you can see, the job evolved to where I was responsible for staff ed and seeing moms with difficult problems, almost daily BF classes at a regular time and place and general phone follow-up. I came to see that instead of one of me giving out BF info, it was lots better for all the staff to be saying and doing the same thing. Many research reports have come out with moms saying the most distressing thing was that each person who came into her room said something different (inconsistent info). I was gratified that when I left in 1991 another person moved into the LC slot. I guess the lesson I learned was to begin gently (in a hospital that has never had an LC). Bring about change slowly and consistently. get everyone in the same book, on the same page. It is really a process, not a job. Sincerely, Pat in SNJ PS: study change theory carefully! One of best places to start is page 481 in Counseling the Nursing Mother, 3rd ed. The chapter is called "Breastfeeding Promotion and Change". It is a great compilation of all that we have learned as the role of LCs has evolved. Also a book called "People Skills" by Bolton and another called "Future Edge" by Barker. These resources are a good place to start to learn about change. Change is a number one goal for the hospital LC :-) *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html