In a message dated 98-02-10 00:18:43 EST, you write:

<< Everytime I go to work
 with a mother who is having problems there's a bottle in the crib that
 the nursery nurses have insisted baby needs.  I will be doing some bf
 education, but I know the nurses who should be there won't.  Has anyone
 had any experience in this area?  Has anyone had any success with
 changing attitudes?  I'm about to give up. >>

Kim,

At one hospital where I worked we developed a "breastfeeding committee"-we
developed policies and procedures for facilitating breastfeeding within the
first two hours after birth, etc., etc.  If you haven't already done this,
would that be an option for you?  You could present the group as a way to make
the post-merger transition a little easier, and also say that this will be a
way to take advantage of the breastfeeding expertise from both hospitals.
Then if you could find out who are the breastfeeding advocates from the other
hospital, (there have to be some?) you could enlist their support.  This would
be helpful because not only would you have these people working with you, they
might also have valuable input regarding personalities and "politics" that you
would not know about.  With some planning and diplomacy, you could make this
committee a real asset for your unit.  We found it helpful because it was a
way for us to have some representation on the unit on different shifts, etc.
A starting point for you might be to review the new AAP guidelines.  Also by
discussing positive and negative issues experienced by both hospitals prior to
the merger you might be able to find some common ground.  At any rate, it
would probably be helpful for you to find at least one "kindred spirit" from
the other hospital and try to work together.  I'm assuming there are now some
different physicians (pediatricians) in the picture as well?  Do any of them
seem to be more enlightened than others?  You may not be able to make many
significant changes right away, but may need to focus on developing
relationships with some of these coworkers first.  I wasn't sure how long your
two units have been merged, but I'm sure this has been difficult in many ways
for all your nurses-maybe there are some other issues that will need to be
worked on in addition to the problems with breastfeeding?  Good luck, and
please let us know how things go.

Troy Brown, RN, CLNC