Our hospital seems to be operating under the same theory--that the nurses
should be doing it.  That's why our department was downsized by one-third.
Because of that, I have even LESS time for teaching, research and developing
educational information for parents and staff.  I wish I had 1.5 FTEs in our NICU
(two would be ideal!)--I need the help!
What I have experienced is that the nurses in the NICU will take on a lot of
the breastfeeding, but when the census reaches max capacity, they have to have
someone else do it, because they really simply do not have time or the
energy.  Taking care of critically ill infants takes that too.  And breastfeeding
teaching takes a lot of time and energy as well.  They just have to prioritize,
and the breastfeeding gets the short end when the census is high, acuity is
high, and staffing ratios are higher.  Last weekend when our census was 62, I
saw 18 mothers.  Today it about 45 and I have seen 6 mothers and taught an
inservice on nipple shields (so far).
Maureen Allen

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

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

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