Barbara Ash writes:
<<Another way to address these issues might be the introduction lower level
credential. The lower-level credential is, I personally believe, important
for
IBLCE to implement. I don't think it will weaken the IBCLC credential,
rather; it would be my hope that many people who take the IBCLC exam would
choose
this credential instead because it would have fewer requirements for
eligibility, indicate a certain proficiency in basic breastfeeding helping
skills,
yet not a qualification to do the specialized work of an IBCLC>>
1. If the IBLCE exam is entry level, what is lower than entry level?
2. Yet another "certification" will confuse the public
3. Rather than making a lower certification, I suggest that we decrease the
number of hours needed, make them truly supervised -- and make at least half
of them required after basic lactation management courses have been taken and
4. Make the RECERTIFICATION exam a higher level exam.
5. Define specifically -- what is the "specialized" work of an IBCLC? What
can the IBCLC do that the lactation assistant/intern can't do?
6. Perhaps it is time to define exactly what the entry level IBCLC should
be doing. Barbara brought up some excellent points -- should she be able to
calculate supplementation needed based on test weights? Should she know all
the finer points of using a supplemental nursing system? Should she be
proficient at getting a baby with Down Syndrome or a cleft palate to breastfeed?
Where does entry level stop and expert begin?
When I was a new RN I certainly didn't know all the things I do now. But I
will tell you that when my daughter was a new RN she knew a heck of a lot
more than I did even as an "old" RN! So as we go along, the bar for basic entry
level knowledge gets raised higher and higher. When I was in nursing school
which was a least 100 years ago, my OB textbook was maybe 350 pages. I
skimmed it the night before boards. Maybe it wasn't even 350 pages. I spent 3
months in OB. My daughter, who graduated from the same program I did except
it had morphed into a university based BSN program by then, had 8 weeks in
MCH, and her text was well over 1000 pages. By the time she graduated, the
school had decided that 5 weeks in OB and 5 weeks in Peds was enough. But the
books were still well over 1000 pages each.
I do get frustrated in teaching our Lactation Consultant Prep Course because
we simply don't have enough time. The more we learn, the more new research
becomes available, the more there is to teach. As I go through my lectures,
I see I can add more -- but find it difficult to subtract...especially since
we are teaching an entry level course -- but entry level is far higher than
it was when I came into the field in 1985.
I don't think I have any answers. Just questions.
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC/Wheaton IL
_www.lactationeducationconsultants.com_
(http://www.lactationeducationconsultants.com)
_My Mother of the Bride Blog_ (http://www.motherofbridebyjan.blogspot.com/)
_Torrey's Wedding Webpage_
(http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=3216252686617334)
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