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