Days - 8 hr shifts 

Demonstrates knowledge of clinical lactation therapy for the breastfeeding inpatient and outpatient Mother-baby couplet, including mothers of premature or other high-risk newborns and all infants admitted under one year old. Consults to other areas of the hospital will be performed on any breastfeeding mothers. Participates as an essential member of the healthcare team on the WAC unit and serves as a clinical resource person for physicians, CNM's, NP, PA's, and nurses in order to promote optimal infant nutrition.  Demonstrates knowledge of the nursing process as a standard, incorporating elements of holistic family-centered care through the collection, verification and organization of data about a patient’s health status, planning for care, implementation of the plan and evaluation.  

 

Typical Duties:

Collaborates with multidisciplinary team to enhance infant nutrition and promote breastfeeding.  Develops and implements standards of care, policies and procedures for breastfeeding/breast milk management. Assesses infant's readiness to breastfeeding/breast milk feeding. Documents teaching, consultation, and response in the medical record and reports findings to appropriate staff. Provides education to parents about breastfeeding/breast milk feeding, including bedside consultation, classes, reading materials, or other methods identified as needed.  Participates in discharge teaching  Provides telephone counseling to breastfeeding/breast milk feeding mothers in the community. Provides education for staff on protocols, care plans, and general breastfeeding and formula feeding information and updates. “Baby Friendly” support, education, data collection, and submission of paperwork to “Baby Friendly USA.” Responsible for supporting the Performance Improvement process within the department.  Includes evaluation and improvement in the areas of outcomes, access, education, satisfaction, and costs. Participates in special projects as delegated and other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION:  Graduate of professional school of nursing. 

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE:  Sufficient experience to demonstrate ability to accept responsibility as an INP RN (job specific).  Hospital Pediatric, NICU or OB experience preferred.

LICENSE/CERTIFICATION/REGISTRY:  Current Montana License as a Registered Nurse. BLS, STABLE and NRP certification required within six months of hire.  Certified Lactation Counselor or International Board Certified Lactation Consultant required within six months of hire.

Aptitudes:  Ability to achieve cognitive, organization and emotional maturity to deal effectively with multiple tasks, stresses, deadlines, difficult situations and/or customers. Possesses interpersonal/communication skills necessary for effective, non-judgmental, and empathetic patient care and customer relations. Open to feedback and open to a changing environment, which requires flexibility in scheduling and department assignments.

Additional Information:  Weekend Rotation required and Holiday on-call by phone only.