Hi, All:  I know a lot of this has been discussed before, but I'm not sure that 
there are formal recommendations/guidelines (other than Jan Riordan's which is 
not taken seriously by hospital administrators) for the following questions that 
my director has.  I met with her yesterday and she is looking at the budget 
thru a microscope and trying to determine most cost-effective strategies for 
our department.  I inadvertantly opened this can of worms a few months ago 
during a meeting with our HR manager.  Currently, the staff LC job description 
requires RN licensure as well as IBCLC.  I personally don't feel that a hospital-
based LC needs to be an RN.  Other IBCLC licensed HCPs on staff would help 
round out breastfeeding management.  The HR manager told me she would look 
into this, but that it would affect the current LC salaries - my staff of 4 are 
resource and practice under the hospital's resource RN contract, which means 
their salaries are the same as a resource staff RN.  My position as Clinical Lead 
is full-time exempt (management), so we do have 2 different pay scales in the 
Lactation Dept.  My director's thinking is that the Lead position would keep 
IBCLC RN as a requirement, but that the resource positions could be "any 
educated (college or higher degree) experienced IBCLC".
Are any of you hospital-based LCs currently working under such a structure?  
What type of salary structure are you following?
Also, when posting an open LC position, how many years of experience is 
required?  I would like to see a minumum of 2-3 years of hospital LC 
experience, but there is discussion as to whether it needs to be that much.  
We all know that there are many LCs out there who have passed certification 
courses/exams with minimal clinical hands-on experience.  I would like to avoid 
this situation.  I also feel a requirement of the hospital-based LC is familiarity 
with the workings of the hospital/health care system.  A hospital-based LC 
walks a fine line every day between best evidence-based practice and reality-
based practice.
The other requirement our hospital has as do many others, at least here in the 
US, is NRP (neonatal rescusitation) certification for all health care staff 
providing direct patient care (nurses, doctors, therapists, etc.) to our 
moms/babies as well as the HCP CPR certification. Essentially, NPR is a very 
souped-up version of infant CPR.  We require all our unit secretaries and PCTs 
(patient care techs) to be current in CPR.  The NRP certification requirement 
would be an issue if we were to hire non-HCP licensed LCs.  What are the 
requirements for those of you who are "lay" LC hospital-based practicioners?

I would appreciate some solid feedback on these issues, so that I can keep 
moving towards my goal of defining the hospital-based LC role.
Thanks!

Pam Hirsch, BSN,RN,IBCLC
Clinical Lead, Lactation Services
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
Barrington, IL    USA

Where, even within the Advocate Healthcare System of 8 hospitals, we all 
define Lactation differently!

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

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]