The point I was trying to make is that there is a group of
people who sit the IBLCE who are doing so in order to have more initials
after their name to advance their career.
I'm wondering "advance their career" in what? I really don't know of any
instances where having an IBCLC advances your career as an RN. There is such a
shortage of nurses that often just being able to breathe and having the RN
credential will get you a job. I've worked with several nurses who thought being
an LC in the hospital would be "fun" but when they actually did the job and
realized how challenging and exhausting it really is they returned to staff
nursing. You only slog away at it day after day if you truly love and are
passionate about what you do.
The only thing having an IBCLC does to advance your career is in some
instance opens the door to jobs as an LC. In the job I left several months ago in
a children's hosp. in a major teaching hosp. they changed the standards so
that neither RN nor IBCLC was required; the only requirement was experience
with nursing mothers in an acute care setting. They also coincidentally offered
us a 15% pay cut. The knowledge and skills needed to provide care to
breastfeeding families in a tertiary care setting was totally denigrated. I'm very
sorry to believe that the public, physicians, etc., have no idea what the IBCLC
credential stands for. I was heartbroken to leave my job--I loved it and was
committed to it, but what was offered was an insult. For a 15% pay cut the
work load would have doubled from an already undoable load. We were an all
RN, IBCLC lactation staff and most of us left. We have found other jobs easily
but I no longer hold the illusion that the IBCLC credential is truly
appreciated. I still love being an LC but something has been knocked out of me. I
find the hill harder to climb now and I know that I cannot be loyal to an
institution--only to my profession and to the families I work with. I do believe
that the path to IBCLC should be through an accredited program at the
university level. Without that, few are going to really appreciate what we do. It
needn't matter if you are an RN, MD, RD, PT, OT etc. These are all a bonus but a
course of study with preceptorships and varied experience will help to insure
good background for the job. Will it guarantee that every IBCLC is a good
lactation consultant? I don't think so. Just as there are RN's, MD's, PT's,
RD's , etc., that are not good, a course of education will not insure that every
LC is good, but it will help with credential recognition and respect for our
profession if there is one path to attaining a credential.
Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC
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