Cristina
Michelutti
November 2012
Cristina
Michelutti
,
RN,BSN,IBCLC
NICU
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Park Ridge
,
IL
United States
Cristina will consistently go out of her way to help out others. She will time and again take on challenges and handle them with grace and kindness. She is the type of nurse that willingly seeks out new learning knowledge and experiences. Cristina recently became a Certified Lactation Consultant after years of reading about the benefits of breast milk for newborns and seeing many mothers struggle to nurse their babies. Cristina has taken a PRN position as a lactation consultant and though not in a regular budgeted position, she has been working hard to learn how to help the mothers have a positive breast feeding experience.
Recently, as Cristina was finishing a regular shift as a charge nurse in her unit, she received a call from the Emergency Department for an “emergency lactation consultation”. A regular scheduled lactation consultant was not available in any of the units in the hospital due to the late hour. A new mother, whose baby had been hospitalized after discharge, had tried to unsuccessfully pump breast milk for her baby while it was in the hospital. As a result, she came to the ED in significant pain. The ED and OB physicians were unsure how to help this mother and were encouraging her to stop breast feeding.
Instead of going home, Cristina went down to the ED after she finished her regular shift and though she was not officially working as a lactation consultant, she spent over an hour and one half, well past 1 am, with this new mother. As she entered the ED room the mother was laying on the bed, curled into the fetal position because she was in so much pain. Cristina explained to her how to pump the breast milk and then helped her pump her breasts to reduce the pain and swelling. She also spent a significant amount of time helping this mother set up a pumping schedule, taught her how to store her milk and also gave her supplies to store milk for her baby. By the time she left the mother was sitting up and smiling.
Because of Cristina this baby was able to reap the benefits of its mother’s milk both during the hospitalization and after discharge.
Recently, as Cristina was finishing a regular shift as a charge nurse in her unit, she received a call from the Emergency Department for an “emergency lactation consultation”. A regular scheduled lactation consultant was not available in any of the units in the hospital due to the late hour. A new mother, whose baby had been hospitalized after discharge, had tried to unsuccessfully pump breast milk for her baby while it was in the hospital. As a result, she came to the ED in significant pain. The ED and OB physicians were unsure how to help this mother and were encouraging her to stop breast feeding.
Instead of going home, Cristina went down to the ED after she finished her regular shift and though she was not officially working as a lactation consultant, she spent over an hour and one half, well past 1 am, with this new mother. As she entered the ED room the mother was laying on the bed, curled into the fetal position because she was in so much pain. Cristina explained to her how to pump the breast milk and then helped her pump her breasts to reduce the pain and swelling. She also spent a significant amount of time helping this mother set up a pumping schedule, taught her how to store her milk and also gave her supplies to store milk for her baby. By the time she left the mother was sitting up and smiling.
Because of Cristina this baby was able to reap the benefits of its mother’s milk both during the hospitalization and after discharge.