I became a hospital LC in 1986 when it was all  new.  There wasn't any job
description to speak of and the job just evolved.  The hospital and staff
had tons of bad BF info, habits and policies.  I started out seeing every
BF mom with follow-up phone calls.  I gradually insinuated myself into the
pp scene, shared with staff who seemed interested.  After a couple of years
had some very enthusiastic staff who were picking up lots. Was asked by
admin to do  inservices, work on policies and procedures.  Began pp BF
classes on the floor, saw only moms who asked or nurses referred.  Hosp did
an area wide BF conf when Protect, Support and Promote first came out.

So briefly you can see, the job evolved to where I was responsible for
staff ed and seeing moms with difficult problems, almost daily BF classes
at a regular time and place and general phone follow-up.  I came to see
that instead of one of me giving out BF info, it was lots better for all
the staff to be saying and doing the same thing.  Many research reports
have come out with moms saying the most distressing thing was that each
person who came into her room said something different (inconsistent info).
I was gratified that when I left in 1991 another person moved into the LC
slot.

I guess the lesson I learned was to  begin gently (in a hospital that has
never had an LC).  Bring about change slowly and consistently.  get
everyone in the same book, on the same page.  It is really a process, not a
job.  Sincerely, Pat in SNJ

PS: study change theory carefully!  One of best places to start is page 481
in Counseling the Nursing Mother, 3rd ed.  The chapter is called
"Breastfeeding Promotion and Change".  It is a great compilation of all
that we have learned as the role of LCs has evolved.  Also a book called
"People Skills" by Bolton and another called "Future Edge" by Barker.
These resources are a good place to start to learn about change.  Change is
a number one goal for the hospital LC :-)

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