I have enjoyed the wave analogy in the last couple of days. In the last
several weeks I feel like I need a life jacket to stay afloat of the work
load we have been dealing with in a hospital based clinic. After four years
we need to revaluate our workload and I need your help.
If you are working in a hospital based clinic what is your work load like?
How many inpts,outpts and calls would you deal with in an average day? I
would love you input because I feel it is time to revamp. Revamp or start
looking for a new surf board. The numbers will be helpful when I talk to
administration.
The clinic were I work is open Monday to Friday. Supposed to be 9-5. Most
days breaks and lunch are a distant memory. In an average day I do an inpt
breastfeeding class that is roughly 45 minutes long. I see any breastfeeding
concerns that are identified by staff or mothers that voice concerns during
the class. This often means I may see an average of 4 inpatients in the
morning.  At discharge all mothers that are discharged are offered a routine
follow up in the breastfeeding clinic 2-3 days post discharge. This means I
see 5 or 6 outpatients in the PM. Each appointment is roughly 45mins-1 hour
in length. Any problems identified are then followed up either by a return
appointment or a referral to the public health nurse. We have a warmline that
averages 7-10 calls a day. In between this we try and squeeze in follow up
calls or visits back to the floor or nursery to check feeding progress or to
catch up on documentation. Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings we have a
drop in clinic that is a joint staffing project with the public health
department. The drop in clinic are popular. One Saturday morning I saw
fourteen mothers and babies. On average we see 5-7 mothers and babies.
I appreciate your input as we revaluate our program.

Margaret Sherratt RN IBCLC
Ontario

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