In a message dated 5/25/00 12:16:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Her supervisor does not see the need to send
 her out to a course, since she breastfed 5 babies and how much do you
 need to know anyway.  She said that now she understands what I mean by
 "nurse brain." >>

Esther,
You know how we say that most cases diagnosed as breastfeeding jaundice are
actually LACK of breastfeeding jaundice. Well, it is not necessarily nurse
brain, but "LACK of breastfeeding knowledge in nurses' brains." I am a nurse,
so maybe I am a little defensive. I also used to lack breastfeeding knowledge
and actually had misinformation about breastfeeding when I started my nursing
career. But I did learn and it was those of you who did not have
misinformation that knew enough about breastfeeding to teach us.  I am very
grateful that I had June & Debby to help me learn about breastfeeding. They
were the only IBCLC's in the area for years and neither are nurses. They
helped lots of us in Central Florida learn about lactation issues.

I work in a hospital with lots of nurses and moms. You can tell those nurses
and moms who have done their homework and really have a knowledge of
breastfeeding. I often find some of the moms know more about breastfeeding
than some of the nurses. Unfortunately some of these nurses don't want to
know any more about breastfeeding and even use their own personal experiences
to teach our new moms about breastfeeding. Things like, "I used a nipple
shield and I did fine" or "Someone told me to sleep all night and that was
the best thing that could have happened to me."  Right now we seem to have
lots of moms & nurses who think that feeding baby in the nursery & sleeping
through the night is good. What is it that Dr. Jack says? "ARRGGHHH!" They
must have "nurse brain" !!!!!!

Laura Hart
Winter Park, Florida



Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
-- Theodore Roosevelt

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