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Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:42:48 EST |
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This has been a topic that I have broached many times on LACTNET. It is
what led me to obtain an RN over the past two years. Somehow we are not getting
the message across. If you take a look at most LC job listings, the RN is
the first credential requirement. There are very few places that an IBCLC
without an RN can get a job, even if she has a doctorate in another field. In
my area, there is a hospital that will hire an LPN with no lactation education
over my Ph.D., IBCLC, LMHC. In general, we have a lot of mothers
complaining, but some hospitals tend to be taking the easy way out, settling for
mediocre care.
I am especially concerned about this because there is no focus in
lactation at nursing schools. I felt that I got a descent MEDICAL education, but
lactation was a page in the OB text. WHY IS AN RN A PRIORITY CREDENTIAL? Why
are we not educating the medical community about what an IBCLC education can
provide? Perhaps the problem is that it is a credential and not a degree?
Why are they hiring an RN if she will plan to get the IBCLC credential
within a year or two? No one would hire an RN to be a respiratory therapist if
they promised to be credentialed within the year--would they? What type of
care are mothers getting if their Lactation Specialist is just working on
certification?
Our credential--the IBCLC-- is the gold standard for breastfeeding care.
There is no other profession that I am aware of that re-tests every ten
years. We need a boost. Somehow we need to get the medical community to think
that this credential is a priority, not just an extra. How do we educate the
medical community at large?
Debbie Albert, RN, Ph.D., IBCLC, LMHC
Tampa Lactation Counseling
Tampa, FL
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