Perhaps someone will offer some advice and direction for me. I work in a Mother/baby unit as a staff RN. My hospital sent 3 co-workers and myself for Lactation Counselor Certification 3 yrs ago. I have successfully gone on to pass my IBCLC exam this year. The other CLC's and myself have been trying to improve breastfeeding services for our mothers without a budget, however we have gained some gradual support and now there are some physicians that have requested we see patients after discharge to assess breastfeeding difficulties. My director has "okayed" this as an informal clinic by appointment as it will not be a charge for the mother or part of outpatient services( much like a blood pressure clinic etc). Of course I have been scrambling to develope consents and assessment tools and realize there are legal issues. I am assuming that a consultaion can only be done by an IBCLC. My question is in what capacity can the 3 other Lactation Counselors assist with the clinic and assessing these mothers? Are all the visits considered consultations? This could pose a problem as I work full time nights( where at least I can encourage BF at night and rooming in!) With increased physician support and requests perhaps someday administration will view us as a needed service separate from nursing. Thankyou for any thoughts and insights and sorry this was so long. Joyce *********************************************** 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(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html