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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