Lactation Consultant, Womens Health Administration, Part Time, First

University of Cincinnati•Cincinnati, OH

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lactation consultant is skilled in assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation to assist the breastfeeding mother to attain her individual goals. The Lactation Consultant function is a member of the multi-disciplinary healthcare team as a consultant, educator, and mentor to nurse, healthcare professionals and patients. Consistently demonstrates behaviors that model the Hospitals core values and mission statement. The purpose and function of this position is to assist breastfeeding mothers with lactation skills, concerns, and issues. As the pioneering hospital of UC Health, Greater Cincinnati's academic health system, UC Medical Center has served greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky for nearly 200 years. Each year, hundreds of thousands of patients receive care from our world-renowned clinicians and care teams utilizing the most advanced medical knowledge and technology available. UC Medical Center has 725 licensed beds and more than 5,800 employees. The Lactation Consultant is responsible for providing safe, family-centered patient care by assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating lactation plans for the breastfeeding/chest-feeding dyad, as well as for the pumping parent, and is fully collaborative with the patient, patient's family, significant others, and members of the health care team. The Lactation Consultant demonstrates specialized knowledge and clinical expertise in breastfeeding/chest-feeding and human lactation. At UC Health, we're proud to have the best and brightest teams and clinicians collaborating toward our common purpose: to advance healing and reduce suffering. As the region's adult academic health system, we strive for innovation and provide world-class care for not only our community, but patients from all over the world. Join our team and you'll be able to develop your skills, grow your career, build relationships with your peers and patients, and help us be a source of hope for our friends and neighbors.

Requirements

IBCLC Certification by International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners
BLS within 90 days of employment
3 - 5 years' experience providing assessment intervention and planning in the areas of nutrition, health education, lactation services to patients receiving care in an OBGYN facility/program.
High School Diploma, or GED, minimum required.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's Degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Actively promotes breastfeeding and assists mothers in reaching their own goals for breastfeeding.
Provides antepartum, intrapartum and post partum classes on breastfeeding, breast care and related topics to inpatients and/or outpatients in a group or 1 to 1.
Serves as the consultant for Maternal-Infant Health Services regarding breastfeeding issues.
Serves as a liaison/resource and/or case manager.
Participates in Quality Improvement, Total Quality Management and research processes which result in the improvement of clinical interventions.
Develops and implements standards of care and guidelines for assisting breastfeeding mothers in all areas of the organization where they might be served (emergency department, OB/GYN, family health centers, employee health, women's health, nurseries, internal medicine, etc.).
Supports educational programs, breastfeeding classes, Baby Steps, Childbirth Education classes, new mother support groups, etc.
Organizes information and posters for activities to promote breastfeeding.
Participates in the development of the individual plan of care.
Informs patients / clients of available referral services. Provides interventions as recommended in the plan of care
Plans, oversees and coordinates patient, family and staff breastfeeding education activities in coordination with Maternal Infant Health care services.
Responsible to the Women's Health Service line ACNO / Director for patient care education.
Provides and coordinates didactic education to all patients who require breastfeeding information in accordance with current research literature and national standards of care,
Establishes reviews and updates educational content on a variety of medications and maternal and infant conditions to include cleft palate, cleft lip, micro-premies, etc.
Reviews and updates information regarding wellness topics such as nutrition, preventative services, and exercise to promote good health habits and increase patient compliance with the health care plan.
Implements and maintains a reference library of breastfeeding materials appropriate for both health-care providers and mothers interested in learning more about lactation.
Responsible for maintaining and updating files, in appropriate locations, of journal articles and obtaining references works that include the latest information on lactation in a variety of contexts and circumstances.
Develops or obtains suitable educational materials to facilitate patient understanding of content.
Knowledgeable and skilled in the physiology and clinical management of breastfeeding.
Assesses patient and family emotional, cognitive, social and motivational status relative to learning and determines their educational needs and priorities.
Adjusts teaching plan to meet patient and family needs.
Evaluates the effectiveness o f patient and family education.
Documents patient/family education and progress of the mother and baby in accordance with hospital standards.
Maintains professional growth in the area of educational techniques and acute/chronic/ wellness topics to maintain quality of patient education services.
Accepts consults for the education of patients and family members in the inpatient or outpatient settings.
Evaluates equipment related to breastfeeding and maintains the breastfeeding room.
Supports hospital employees who are breastfeeding.
Plans, oversees and coordinates annual and as needed education.
Reviews care routines, policies, procedures and/or other aspects of the mother-baby hospital experience with involved clinical staff in order to highlight successes or needs of lactating mothers and their breastfeeding infants.
Responsible for coordinating staff competency activities and documentation of activities in staff education folders.
Develops a reference library for staff use.
Establishes and maintains a telephone line to provide contact with patients who require assistance or those referred for outpatient assistance.
Establishes and maintains a regular follow-up system of continuing care for mothers and their infants first seen in the hospital. Patient contact may be made via patient visits, telephone calls, post cards or letters.
Develops documentation record to track patient progress/concerns.
Screens walk-in patients and telephone calls to assess severity of patient condition and requirements for physician intervention.
Communicates with physicians regarding patient condition and disposition and documents events appropriately.
Screens patient records and performs patient interviews to assess the medical and obstetrical history and determine the health care needs.
Performs psychosocial assessment of patient and family to identify significant cultural, spiritual, financial or emotional factors, which may affect health care plan.
Recognizes sub-optimal changes in status and symptoms that require follow-up and reports to physician.
Completes required paperwork to document activities.
Offers case conferences that highlight particular needs of lactating mothers and their breastfeeding infants for OB/GYN and/or Newborn / Neonatal patients.
Coordinates Breastfeeding Committee and facilitates Breastfeeding Support Groups.
Coordinates patient care services between clinic providers, specialists, pharmacy and other ancillary services.
Coordinates patient referral to support services provided through Baby Steps, Centering Pregnancy, other networks, and the community.
Assists and provides support to patients as necessary in obtaining services
Participates in community activities.
Member of the local Lactation Consultants Association and attends quarterly meetings.
Member of hospital-wide lactation group and attends quarterly meetings.
Identifies problems, designs projects, collects data, analyzes data, tracks workload and processes results.
Applies generated information to health care practice with the goal of improving utilization and clinical outcomes.
Conducts annual audits to determine breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates and the effects of change in protocols.