Winnie - I fully understand your frustration with unsupportive management,
in 35+ years of hospital nursing, unfortunately I've had my share,
...fortunately, Not in the case of working as an LC in the hospital setting.
The first manager I had at Columbia Hospital for Women was like "the LC is
always right, she better be!"...I don't remember the one other LC and I
there ever having a problem with unhappy moms. Surely there were some. In my
second hospital LC job, with a large hospital system, the manager we had at
the big hospital was the newly appointed the director of Family Centered
Care (FCC). A very experienced manager previously for a well-known hospital
in the South, this was her first venture into the maternal-infant realm.
When I interviewed for that job some 25ish years ago, she had all of the
current LCs with her, 2 or 3 I think, and her assistant director of FCC. That
was a really good sign. They all equally took part in the interview
process. One of the questions was a scenario about how I would deal with a mother
who was unhappy regarding the BF info or guidance she had received. Having
been a nurse for so long and helping such a wide variety of moms I was
very prepared for such a question.
This manager very thoughtfully put together a team of LCs, some full time,
some part-time, some PRN. Systematically she built up lactation services
along with our visibility and credibility with the staff, nursing and
medical. She had us attend the staff meetings of the various FCC units, and a
medical staff monthly meeting 'Grand Rounds' to introduce us to the physician
staff and tell the docs all kinds of glowing things about the growing LC
staff and our progressively comprehensive services.
We had very regular LC staff meetings. She was very skilled at consensus
building, bolstering our confidence, spurring motivation, empowering
autonomy, garnering loyalty, and setting the highest bar for standards of care.
During one of the earliest LC staff meetings that I remember, she was
telling us how very important and essential the LCs were to the patients and the
staff, how we were the role models, declaring with the utmost sincerity
"you ladies are the crème de la crème of family centered care." You can see
that she was not a manager at all, she was a Leader.
She had us involved with the nursing staff in so many various ways, in
ways you would expect, and in ways we did not expect, for example she asked me
to chair the customer satisfaction committee for Family Center Care. I
enjoyed that extra role for 3 years, and yes, scores steadily went up because
she expected such and I was not going to disappoint her in any way, ever.
Debbie Tobin RN, BSN
Fairfax County, Virginia suburbs outside the Washington DC beltway
In a message dated 2/8/2015 12:00:48 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
This attitude on the part of management is the primary reason I left the
field long before I had intended to do so.>>>>
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