Although I do agree with Jennifer about the fact that we need to understand
what is missing educationally in our own profession, I have also had
situations where the mother did not completely understand what I was trying to teach.
I am not playing the fence here, but one thought that I had was that we are
expecting our moms to be auditory learners for the most part. As a result,
it might be helpful for us to have a better understanding about HOW people
learn. Our society is full of computers and TVs, and as a result, most are
visual learners. I have resorted to emails, handouts, and websites. We have an
abundance of resources out there! We need to address the mother's learning
style, and I do not believe there is much focus on that in our educational
programs.
We also have those who are dedicated to the cause, and others frankly,
who are looking for a less stressful nursing position(??) or better work
hours. Genuine caring helps, but harsh zealousness can also be a problem as well.
Kathleen's suggestion about more organized educational requirements is a
good one. We appear to have way too many people who have basic credentials,
with only the basics behind it. Perhaps this is why an RN (or even in my
area, an LPN!) will be considered for a lactation specialist over an IBCLC in
most hospitals. Let's face it, in most medical settings, non-RN IBCLCs don't
have a chance of being hired, and when they do get hired, they create lower
pay standards. Is this what we want for our profession? How will the new
stance from IBLCE about CLC certification affect the IBCLC in the long run? We
truly need to protect the IBCLC credential as gold standard because most
medical institutions just don't get the message.
Debbie Albert, RN, Ph.D., LMHC, IBCLC, RLC
Tampa Lactation Counseling
Tampa, FL
In a message dated 5/18/05 7:27:59 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
I think there is a problem and I think it is serious. I'd frankly like to
address it.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT USA
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