futuremidwife

Hi there! Not sure if you have made any decisions in this regard as of yet but thought I would offer my two cents. I am an IBCLC student gaining clinical hours in a mother/baby unit. Since you are already an RN, I would think the easier path for you to take is Pathway 1 if you're not in a rush to become an IBCLC. As others have stated, working in mother/baby is better suited for lactation hours. You can look at being a nursery nurse or working in the NICU as well. It would be a smoother process to get paid as a nurse and count those hours over a few years to your IBCLC credential. If you are in a rush to become an IBCLC, you can work as a nurse in any field and gain those hours volunteering at WIC or mother/baby unit. You will likely gain hours faster this way as a Pathway 3 candidate. Feel free to ask me further questions if you have any. Wishing you the best!

KP is hiring in Oakland and San Francisco right now. Another option is Children’s Hospital of Oakland or UCSF.

OK, great! That helps. Do you have a particular specialty of interest?

Hi everyone! I am considering attending Unitek for the LVN program. For those of you who have started it. How do you like it?

Yes, I just saw that LOL. If you don’t mind sharing here, are you in SoCal, Bay Area, etc.?

Or maybe, you can try PMing me. It wouldn’t let me message you for some reason.

You’re welcome. OK, I will PM you.

Congratulations on completing nursing school and passing the NCLEX!!

Hi! I’m not an LVN but considering this path with job prospects in mind. Are you in CA or TX?

Hello there! I will soon become an IBCLC and I have several friends who are midwives. Hopefully I can provide some insight for you. Midwives work very closely with IBCLCs and some midwives also hold the certification. There is a definitely a big need for lactation support in the home and birth center setting. There are opportunities out there for you to work with midwives in a birth center. I would start reaching out to your local birth centers and midwives to make some connections, ask questions, etc. It is an excellent idea to either work in conjunction with a birth center as a private practice or work at a birth center. As far as payment goes, it is my understanding that receiving payment can be tricky but definitely doable. Your clients can pay you outright or you can file for your NPI so you can bill insurance. If you haven't heard of this website already, www.paperlesslactation.com is a great resource. I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

Hi there! I know this was posted several months ago but I wanted to share some advice and reassurance for you as you're on your journey to happiness! I am on the path to becoming an IBCLC and a pre-nursing student. I started as a birth doula and widened by birth services to postpartum as well. In so doing, I decided to take one 45 hour lactation course in order to be a lactation educator. Well... Surprise, surprise! I fell in love with lactation and decided to take the secondary course so that I would be able to have a total of the 90 lactation education hours required to become an IBCLC. I have fulfilled that component and now as a non-nurse, I have to complete the 500 hours (under the supervision of an IBCLC) needed to sit for the IBCLC exam. As a nurse, especially one who works in a Mother/Baby Unit, you can count the hours that you have worked as your 1000 hours which is great. So if you worked at least a minimum of one year, it should be no problem for you to fulfill that requirement. It is based on the honor system. Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any further questions if you have them.

Thank you. Yes, I really enjoy patient interaction so I'm leaning towards nursing assistant and medical assistant.

Hello AllNurses Crew: I am looking for advice on what my first nursing/medical job should be. In the past, I have done extensive volunteer hours at a few different hospitals. I love the in patient setting vs. long term care facility. I would appreciate advice from current registered nurses or nursing students but I'm willing to hear everyone's opinion, especially if you work/worked in one of the fields below. Here are my choices: 1. Nursing Assistant/Patient Care Tech 2. Medicine Aide 3. Medical Assistant 4. Phlebotomy Tech 5. Dialysis Tech Please let me know your thoughts! Thank you.