Hear, hear.
My predecessor had exactly that problem -- she was both an RN and an IBCLC 
and could never get her LC time free and clear!  And as an LLLL, I 
certainly am completely at ease with breastfeeding questions and situations 
several weeks, months, or years out that my colleagues have much less 
experience with.  Biting babies, foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, thrush, 
nursing strikes, etc.  Whereas they had tons to teach me about mucusy or 
sleepy newborns, etc.
Philosophically, LLLLs often come from a more trusting place.  We may have 
to learn to recognize that "insufficient milk" really *can* happen (wow, 
was it a shock the first time I realized I was looking at an FTT baby of a 
mother who was doing *everything* "right" and had years of experience), and 
to understand the scary implications of some situations, but it's healthy 
for a birthing center to have someone coming from that end of the spectrum 
instead of everyone coming from the medical management model.
Plus, LLL is very careful to teach us to avoid turning immediately to our 
own personal experience for "answers" to a mother who has questions, 
whereas the physicians here are very quick to give moms advice based on 
their own personal history, which might be quite inapplicable (e.g. mom is 
trying to pump exclusively for a non-latching 1-week-old and the MD's 
advice is what a working mother of a healthy breastfeeding 4 month old 
should be doing).
Elise
LLLL, IBCLC
Cottage Hospital
New Hampshire, USA

At 02:15 PM 6/6/2005, you wrote:
>The good thing about having non-RN IBCLCs in hospitals is that
>administration can not pull this person to do nursing work instead of
>breastfeeding. We had a great RN IBCLC here and she was constantly pulled to
>do nursing work and could never get to the BF patients or had to cancel
>outpatient appointments. She quit and has now been replaced twice by
>non-IBCLCs (not even on track to take the exam).
>
>Non RN IBCLCs can also bring a different perspective to hospital work. They
>may see the patient differently than the nursing staff do. An IBCLC coming
>out of LLLI, for example, should have better counseling skills and knowledge
>of older baby issues than someone who has only been exposed to hospital
>work.
>
>Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC

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