Lactation Consultant Travel Nurse?

NedRN · Jul 9, 2016

I'd guess it is unlikely that there is enough need to work steady as a traveler. Mother/baby yes. Some assignments may request expertise in lactation.

You could get a definitive answer by calling the very large agencies such as Cross Country and American Mobile. I had no luck searching their sites for lactation so you'll have to call.

NurseMegIBCLC · Jul 9, 2016

Thanks! Maybe I will :))

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Jul 10, 2016

I'm neither a traveler nor a lactation consultant, so take this info with a grain of salt. This is just my observation from what I've seen on my own unit (NICU).

My unit, NICU, has been chronically understaffed, and our lactation consultants in our Women's and Children's Hospital have been chronically understaffed. In NICU (and I would imagine M-B, L&D, etc.) managers are so desperate to staff the unit safely that they must pay a premium to bring in travel nurses; we simply could not continue to function without travelers, even though they are expensive. Meanwhile, when our lactation consultants are understaffed, the management simply expects each LC to do more and more with fewer resources. An LC with 30 couplets per day is definitely a quality issue, but not necessarily a safety issue; therefore, managers are not willing to shell out the big bucks for a traveler. It's unlikely that anyone would sue the hospital over insufficient breastfeeding support due to understaffing, as opposed to a family suing the hospital over a poor perinatal outcome due to L&D/M-B/NICU understaffing.

What I mean to say is that logistically, there may not be LC travel positions available consistently simply because there are cheaper ways for units to provide lactation support (i.e. expecting staff LCs to do more, expecting M/B nurses to do more, offering incentives for staff nurses to cross-train in lactation, mandatory OT, etc.) than bringing in a traveler.

Again, this post is just one person's observation combined with a bunch of conjecture, but that's my train of thought.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jul 10, 2016

Unfortunately, LCs do not generate revenue.

NurseMegIBCLC · Jul 11, 2016

Great input guys, thank you. I appreciate the insight (I'm a new nurse, but have been doing lactation for about 5 years). I never really thought about it the way you guys have :)