It all seems so normal now, this Baby-Friendly journey. It’s been made part of our work lives, and sometimes I forget we’re special, part of a single-digit percentage of hospitals in the country making these recommended changes. But then I have moments when my head snaps and I remember how incredibly WOW everything we’re doing really is.
This week a nursing student told a group how excited she was to get the coveted spot with our Lactation Coordinator for her school’s community health rotation. She wanted to be a part of Baby-Friendly and learn more about it.
Our Childbirth Unit and Mother/Baby Unit track skin-to-skin in the operating room, rooming-in and exclusive breast milk feeding as Key Performance Indicators. These data are determined daily and posted on a large bulletin board on each unit. We’re not quite halfway through to designation, and I see green, green, green on these boards. Green is good!
What is traditionally called the “nursery” is now my favorite room in the hospital. We still need to think of a new name for this behemoth of an empty room. About a year ago a group of us visited Community Hospital in Anderson, Ind. Their nursery looked like a storage room. I thought it would be a long, hard road for our nursery to achieve storage room status. Not so, thanks to a crazy good group of nurses!
The new normal is so exciting! After leaving an anesthesia department meeting and seeing that all physicians present were on board with skin to skin in the operating room, I felt a sigh of relief. Culture changes take time and we are seeing these changes daily. It’s a great feeling to know that our unit is a WOW. A big thank you to our nursing staff and physicians that are making it happen.
You were correct when you said your hospital is special and you should not forget it! You are among an elite group of hospitals striving to prictice solid evidence based care. Your journey to change your culture is quite astounding.Thank you for taking the time to generously share your story to teach and inspire others.
Awesome. You are changing the culture of your hospital! So encouraging, that evidence based practices can penetrate an area of health care that is so full of emotion and tradition. Hard to make changes! Great work!