Lactation Consultant - Mother Baby - Per Diem - Evenings

About the role

At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community. Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change.

The primary purpose of the Lactation Consultant position is to skillfully provide direct patient care and consultation services for patients related to breastfeeding in accordance with professional nursing standards. The Lactation Consultant assesses, provides, teaches, and evaluates lactation education programs to childbearing clients, their family members, and appropriate HUMC employees. Assists in helping mothers to increase their breastfeeding skills and attain their lactation goals. Serves as a lactation resource person for hospital staff, students, and community members. Designs and provides patient and staff education programs, assists in establishing the standard of care for breastfeeding mothers, and participates in continuous performance improvement programs. Demonstrates knowledge of the principles of growth and development and possesses the ability to respond to specific issues and data reflective of the patient's status. Demonstrates the knowledge and skills necessary to provide for the primary care within the framework of the job description to the following patient populations: infants (0–12 months); toddlers (13 months to 4 years); adolescents (13 to 17 years); young adults (18 to 34 years); and adults (35–65 years).

Responsibilities

• Develops, implements, and evaluates a plan of care for patients experiencing difficulty initiating or maintaining lactation.
• Conducts bedside lactation rounds daily.
• Documents all lactation and teaching interventions.
• Utilizes effective teaching methods based on adult learning principles.
• Assists parents and their families in understanding alternatives that may be required to accomplish lactation goals and communicates this information to all members of the health team.
• Demonstrates the knowledge, clinical skills, and ability to develop and conduct competencies, workshops, and/or in-services for staff to reinforce and update knowledge about current trends in the lactation process.
• Assures that lactation services are provided in a timely manner.
• Demonstrates the ability to assist breastfeeding mothers in other areas of the hospital who may need assistance (e.g., mothers separated from infant due to either maternal or child illness, or other emergencies).
• Creates, reviews, evaluates, and/or revises departmental policies related to breastfeeding as necessary, utilizing Evidence Based Practice principles (AWHONN, IBCLC, ACOG) and HUMC standards and guidelines.
• Participates in the development and conducts daily discharge teaching classes/breastfeeding classes (in conjunction with the Mother/Baby RN), in house, following prescribed outline and emphasizing breastfeeding education.
• Actively promotes increased awareness and literature about HUMC rental station in the Women's Gift Shop for patients/families.
• Performs other duties as assigned; includes other job functions that are important, but not essential to perform this job (e.g., assignment in the nursery, cover newborns on overflow units).
• Attends yearly International Conference to maintain certification.
• Informs leadership of current trends and necessary changes to policies/procedures or protocols.
• Maintains mandatory education requirements for the medical center.
• Identifies the needs of the patient population served and modifies and delivers care that is specific to those needs (i.e., age, culture, language, hearing and/or visually impaired, etc.), including communicating with the patient, parent, and/or primary caregiver(s) at their level (developmental/age, educational, literacy, etc.).
• Adheres to the standards identified in the Medical Center's Organizational Competencies.

Requirements

Education

• Graduate of a NLN/AACN accredited program in nursing.
• Maternal Child Health, Nursery experience as a staff nurse for a minimum of 5 years.

Licenses and Certifications

• International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP).
• NJ State Professional Registered Nurse License.

Pay

Minimum rate of $54.62 hourly. HMH is committed to pay equity and transparency; the posted rate is a reasonable good faith estimate of the minimum base pay for this role at the time of posting in accordance with the New Jersey Pay Transparency Act. The starting rate is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of a specific offer. Base compensation determined at the time of offer may differ based on non-discriminatory factors including labor market data, experience, education and certifications, skills, geographic location, internal equity, budget and grant funding. Some positions may be eligible for performance-based incentives, bonuses, commissions, or shift differentials for evening, night, or weekend shifts.

Benefits

For full-time and part-time (20+ hours/week) positions, HMH offers a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and retirement benefits.