Winnie - I fully understand your frustration with unsupportive management,  
in 35+ years of hospital nursing, unfortunately I've had my share,  
...fortunately, Not in the case of working as an LC in the hospital setting. 
 
The first manager I had at Columbia Hospital for Women was like "the LC is  
always right, she better be!"...I don't remember the one other LC and I 
there  ever having a problem with unhappy moms. Surely there were some. In my 
second  hospital LC job, with a large hospital system, the manager we had at 
the  big hospital was the newly appointed the director of Family Centered 
Care  (FCC). A very experienced manager previously for a well-known hospital 
in the  South, this was her first venture into the maternal-infant realm.
 
When I interviewed for that job some 25ish years ago, she had all of the  
current LCs with her, 2 or 3 I think, and her assistant director of FCC. That 
 was a really good sign. They all equally took part in the interview 
process. One  of the questions was a scenario about how I would deal with a mother 
who  was unhappy regarding the BF info or guidance she had received. Having 
been a  nurse for so long and helping such a wide variety of moms I was 
very prepared  for such a question. 
 
This manager very thoughtfully put together a team of LCs, some  full time, 
some part-time, some PRN. Systematically she built up lactation  services 
along with our visibility and credibility with the staff,  nursing and 
medical. She had us attend the staff meetings of the various  FCC units, and a 
medical staff monthly meeting 'Grand Rounds' to introduce us to  the physician 
staff and tell the docs all kinds of glowing things about the  growing LC 
staff and our progressively comprehensive services.
 
We had very regular LC staff meetings. She was very skilled at  consensus 
building, bolstering our confidence, spurring motivation,  empowering 
autonomy, garnering loyalty, and setting the highest bar for  standards of care.  
During one of the earliest LC staff meetings that  I remember, she was 
telling us how very important and  essential the LCs were to the patients and the 
staff, how we were the  role models, declaring with the utmost sincerity 
"you ladies are the  crème de la crème of family centered care." You can see 
that she was not a  manager at all, she was a Leader.
 
She had us involved with the nursing staff in so many various ways, in  
ways you would expect, and in ways we did not expect, for example she asked  me 
to chair the customer satisfaction committee for Family Center Care. I  
enjoyed that extra role for 3 years, and yes, scores steadily went up  because 
she expected such and I was not going to disappoint her in any way,  ever.
 
 
 
Debbie Tobin RN, BSN
Fairfax County, Virginia suburbs  outside the Washington DC beltway





In a message dated 2/8/2015 12:00:48 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

This  attitude on the part of management is the primary reason I left the 
field long  before I had intended to do so.>>>>  



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