Laurie says,

> They are told they must clock out after 6 hrs. They have been
> told to discontinue f/u calls and consults. They have to prioritize. Many
> LCs at several hospitals REGULARLY clock out but stay hours afterwards to
> make sure the moms get the help they need. I take calls at home regularly
> and on my off days and weekends, gratis.
>
This distresses me no end.....primarily because it puts the LCs at HIGH risk
for burnout, and secondarily because then the hospital gets service for
nothing.  The moms needs are being met -- but at whose expense?  And the
hospitals takes and accepts the kudos they are getting for having a lactation
program for which they are paying peanuts.  If all LCs would stop giving away
their services for free to hospitals, I expect that the hospitals would
realize what they are missing.  Right now they don't know (and don't care)
because the slack is being picked up -- for free.

My husband is in hospital administration.  He gets paid for 40 hours a week,
and routinely puts in 65 to 70+.  The administration higher than he simply
expects this to happen.... and they'll take blood from a turnip if they can
get it.  The hospitals don't really care about their employees -- they only
care about their bottom line and how they look when JCAHO comes around and
how the hospital appears to outsiders.  Hospitals will keep taking and taking
and taking -- and will give nothing in return.  Being altruistic is
wonderful, but it doesn't prevent burnout and it doesn't put any vegemite on
the table.

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, RLC
Wheaton, Illinois
www.lactationeducationconsultants.com

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

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