Lactation Consultant, Registered Nurse (RN)

Overview

Act as a facilitator in assisting new parents, newborns, infants, and families in matters regarding decision-making, self-care and infant care relative to feeding.

Responsibilities

Performs assessments on inpatients and outpatients who are referred for individual chest/breastfeeding consultations, teaching, and/or feeding support session(s). Plans, implements and evaluates individual chest/breastfeeding education based on patient assessment and medical plan of care. Teaches patient and significant others about chest/breastfeeding self-management. Documents all aspects of chest/breastfeeding education. Facilitate referral to other health-care professional, community service and support groups as needed. Triage patients, plan/recommend interventions and/or determine immediate need for evaluation. Initiate infant feeding education prenatally for families making feeding choices through accurate information provided in a variety of settings. Work in collaboration with multi-disciplinary team members in teaching parents and their families in the inpatient hospital and outpatient clinic setting and identify lactation needs, formulating and implementing plans using a problem-solving process for special needs parents and infants regarding infant nutrition. Implement standards of care, policies and procedures for infant nutrition. Collaborate on written literature and/or brochures about infant and parent nutrition to be distributed to families and the community. Develop in-services and one-on-one teaching for multi-disciplinary team members relevant to infant nutrition. Serve as a resource person for nurses, physicians and other health care providers within the hospital/clinic and the community. Support in maintaining statistics on the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center chest/breastfeeding population, evaluating, and updating the infant nutrition support services as indicated. Maintain communication based on referral, when indicated for parents/the feeding dyad, with other health care providers. Utilize knowledge of age-related growth and development to individualize the nursing process, functioning in accordance with the nursing philosophy, the standards of care, and the standards of practice, as defined by the New Hampshire Nursing Practice Act, and with respect for the Patient Bill Promote the philosophy, values and goals of the organization and the department, maintaining a functional communication network for the promotion of effective customer service. Demonstrate patience, courtesy and compassion when interacting with patients, visitors, employees and our other customers, maintaining excellent professional rapport. Demonstrate a positive attitude and an ability to work with others in a cooperative effort to ensure customer satisfaction and continuous Quality Improvement. Comply with the department and Medical Center safety and infection control policies and procedures, and with relevant regulatory and legal standards. Participate in all meetings, in-service sessions and required professional development programs and activities in order to maintain IBCLC certification Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Education: Graduate of an accredited nursing program.
• Experience: Minimum of five years of experience within inpatient care in the OB and/or newborn setting, including parent education experience.

Required Licensure/Certifications

• Licensed RN with NH eligibility
• International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC)
• BLS within 30 days