Lactation Specialist provides assistance to women and infants in the Mother Baby, Neonatal Intensive Care, Pediatric Unit, and out-patient services, who are attempting to establish and/or maintain breastfeeding.  Promotes long-term breastfeeding success through providing outpatient consultation and support.  Develops, implements and evaluates breastfeeding education for families, patient, staff and medical personnel.

1. Plans, organizes and delivers lactation services to all breastfeeding patients, both inpatient and outpatient.
2. Conducts bedside rounds daily.
3. Consults with mothers having breastfeeding problems.
4. Direct phone line available for patients needing lactation assistance and answered within 24-hours, or on the following Monday when it is a weekend.
5. Selects appropriate breastfeeding education for post partum discharge and community resources.
6. Maintains a safe and clean work environment.
7. Complies with safety policies and procedures in order to provide a safe environment for employees, patients, and visitors.
8. Actively participates in achieving departmental goals.
9. Performs other duties as assigned.

The plan of nursing care will:

• Be documented in the patient’s medical record.
• Be initiated, individualized and reviewed according to departmental standards of care and departmental policies and procedures.
• Be reflective of the patient’s needs, as developed form the patient’s assessment.
• Identify patient care issues, initiate interventions and evaluate how they affect patient outcome.
• Include discharge planning to be initiated upon admission and completed by discharge.
• Be developed in coordination with the patient/family, physicians, and other health care team members.

Source:  Chart Review Eight (8) times Per Year (8 charts x 5 line items = 40 times)

(Exceeds Standard:  64-72; Meet Standard:  57-63; Does Not Meet Standard:  0-56)

Patient’s medical record reflects correlation of nursing problems to:

• Patient assessment.
• Plan of care.
• Lactation intervention.
• Patient response to care given.
• Patient’s progress toward her expected outcomes.

Source:  Chart Review Eight (8) times Per Year (8 charts x 5 line items = 40 times)

(Exceeds Standard:  36-40; Meet Standard:  32-35; Does Not Meet Standard:  0-31)

Ensures the significant changes and/or abnormal findings are reported and followed up appropriately.

JOB KNOWLEDGE:  

The documentation of the patient assessment will be legible and include the following:

• Initial observation made upon delivery of infant and patient desire to breastfeed.  Assessment completed according to departmental standards of care and departmental police and procedures.
• The full range of patient needs to include: latch, suck, swallow
• Date, time and signature/initials for each entry.

Source:  Chart Review Eight (8) times Per Year (8 charts x 2 line items = 16 times)

(Exceeds Standard:  14-16; Meet Standard:  13-14; Does Not Meet Standard:  0-12)

Demonstrates the ability to perform appropriate house-wide competencies.

Demonstrates the ability to perform department specific competencies.

Independently analyzes situations, anticipates problem areas and takes appropriate course of action to include delegation of health care team members or seeking assistance, but not limited to:

• Integrating data to lactation assessment.
• Seeking necessary resources.
• Developing interventions from assessment.
• Evaluating and reassessing on an ongoing basis.
• Monitoring and evaluating the care provided by team members and intervening appropriately.
• Integrating plan and assessment with interventions.

Formulates, implements, and documents an individualized teaching plan for each mother/baby based upon:

• Assessed needs of the patient/family.
• Collaborated teaching plan with the physician, patient/family and health care team.
• Teaching strategies suitable for the learning/developmental stage of the patient/family.
• Evaluated effectiveness of teaching plans/discharge instructions and modifications as needed.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:      

Assuming role as preceptor as assigned.

POPULATION – SPECIFIC CARE:

Demonstrates the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the populations served.  This includes demonstrating knowledge of the principles of caring for the following, but not limited to, geriatric, pediatric, developmentally-challenged, special needs and physically-challenged, and various diagnoses, interventions, procedures and operations performed for patients served.