The point I was trying to make is that there is a group of
people who  sit the IBLCE who are doing so in order to have more initials
after their  name to advance their career.
 
I'm wondering "advance their career" in what? I really don't know of any  
instances where having an IBCLC advances your career as an RN. There is such a  
shortage of nurses that often just being able to breathe and having the RN  
credential will get you a job. I've worked with several nurses who thought being  
an LC in the hospital would be "fun" but when they actually did the job and  
realized how challenging and exhausting it really is they returned to staff  
nursing. You only slog away at it day after day if you truly love and are  
passionate about what you do. 
 
The only thing having an IBCLC does to advance your career is in some  
instance opens the door to jobs as an LC.  In the job I left several months  ago in 
a children's hosp. in a major teaching hosp. they changed  the standards so 
that neither RN nor IBCLC was required; the only  requirement was experience 
with nursing mothers in an acute care setting. They  also coincidentally offered 
us a 15% pay cut. The knowledge and skills needed to  provide care to 
breastfeeding families in a tertiary care setting was  totally denigrated. I'm very 
sorry to believe that the public, physicians,  etc., have no idea what the IBCLC 
credential stands for. I was heartbroken to  leave my job--I loved it and was 
committed to it, but what was offered  was an insult.  For a 15% pay cut the 
work load would have doubled from an  already undoable load. We were an all 
RN, IBCLC lactation staff and most of us  left. We have found other jobs easily 
but I no longer hold the illusion that the  IBCLC credential is truly 
appreciated. I still love being an LC but something  has been knocked out of me. I 
find the hill harder to climb now and I know that  I cannot be loyal to an 
institution--only to my profession and to the families I  work with. I do believe 
that the path to IBCLC should be through an accredited  program at the 
university level. Without that, few are going to really  appreciate what we do. It 
needn't matter if you are an RN, MD, RD, PT,  OT etc. These are all a bonus but a 
course of study with preceptorships and  varied experience will help to insure 
good background for the job. Will  it guarantee that every IBCLC is a good 
lactation consultant? I don't  think so. Just as there are RN's, MD's, PT's, 
RD's , etc., that are not  good, a course of education will not insure that every 
LC is good, but it  will help with credential recognition and respect for our 
profession if there is  one path to attaining a credential. 
 
Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC 

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html