Lactation Registered Nurse - Antepartum/Postpartum

When you join the growing BILH team, you're not just taking a job, you’re making a difference in people’s lives.

Antepartum/Postpartum | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)
About the Unit

The Antepartum/Postpartum Unit at BIDMC provides comprehensive inpatient care for antepartum and postpartum patients and their newborns. The unit consists of 62 private patient rooms across three units on two floors, designed to support safe, high-quality, family-centered care. Services include antepartum and postpartum care supported by a shared Level 1 newborn nursery divided into two functional areas.

About the Role

The Lactation Support Registered Nurse is a valued member of the Antepartum/Postpartum team, combining bedside nursing care with specialized support and education related to breastfeeding and infant feeding. Working collaboratively with patients, families, providers, and nursing colleagues, this role helps promote positive feeding experiences and supports patients throughout the postpartum period.

What You'll Do

Provide compassionate, patient- and family-centered nursing care to postpartum patients and their newborns while serving as a key resource for breastfeeding and infant feeding support. In this role, you will assess feeding needs, provide education and hands-on guidance, collaborate with providers and interdisciplinary team members, and help develop individualized care plans that promote positive feeding experiences and outcomes. You'll combine clinical nursing expertise with specialized lactation support to empower families throughout their postpartum journey.

Team and Culture

Join a collaborative team dedicated to delivering high-quality, patient- and family-centered care across the perinatal continuum. Nurses in this role work closely with postpartum, antepartum, newborn nursery, and provider teams to support both clinical care and infant feeding success. The Antepartum/Postpartum Unit fosters a culture of teamwork, compassion, education, and continuous learning within a leading academic medical center.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities including but not limited to:

• Provides direct care to patients and makes necessary nursing judgments. Responsible for systematically assessing the health care needs of individuals or groups and for the formulation of a care plan, its implementation and evaluation. Demonstrates the ability for decision making by integrating theoretical knowledge with practical experience in caring for patients.

• Coordinates the care of patients and directs assistive personnel in order to provide safe, effective, efficient, equitable and timely, patient-centered care. Demonstrates awareness of environmental forces on health care of patients and their families. Demonstrates the ability to identify resources necessary to implement the plan of care.

• Works in a collegial and collaborative relationship with other health professionals to determine healthcare needs of patients and families. Develops relationships with patients and families that maintain and communicate trust and respect. Communicates effectively in the exchange of information. Demonstrate the ability to act as a patient advocate.

• Maintains annual mandatory education requirements, which include emergency skills and unit based competencies. Identifies needs for continued growth and development in conjunction with the unit based educator or clinical nurse specialist. Participates in activities that contribute to professional development of self May participate in quality improvement activities.

• Demonstrates a commitment to patients, staff, and to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The individual nursing practice reflects the goals of the Medical Center. Demonstrates responsibility and accountability for own nursing practice and patient safety

Education:

• Graduate of an accredited Nursing Program required.

• Baccalaureate degree in Nursing strongly preferred.

Experience:
1-3 years related work experience required.

License/Certification(s):

• License Registered Nurse required.

• American Heart Association – Basic Life support Certificate required.

Competencies:
1.    Decision Making: Ability to make decisions that are guided by general instructions and practices requiring some interpretation. May make recommendations for solving problems of moderate complexity and importance.

2.    Problem Solving: Ability to address problems that are varied, requiring analysis or interpretation of the situation using direct observation, knowledge and skills based on general precedents.

3.    Independence of Action: Ability to follow precedents and procedures. May set priorities and organize work within general guidelines. Seeks assistance when confronted with difficult and/or unpredictable situations. Work progress is monitored by supervisor/manager.

4.    Written Communications: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in written English with internal and external customers.

5.    Oral Communications: Ability to comprehend and converse in English to communicate effectively with medical center staff, patients, families and external customers.

6.    Knowledge: Ability to demonstrate full working knowledge of standard concepts, practices, procedures and policies with the ability to use them in varied situations.

7.    Team Work: Ability to act as a team leader for small projects or work groups, creating a collaborative and respectful team environment and improving workflows. Results may impact the operations of one or more departments.

8.    Customer Service: Ability to provide a high level of customer service to patients, visitors, staff and external customers in a professional, service-oriented, respectful manner using skills in active listening and problem solving. Ability to remain calm in stressful situations.

Age based Competencies: Employees in this job must be competent to provide patient care to the following age groups: Neonatal:Birth to 6 months, Young adult: 16-30 years, Middle Age: 30 - 60 years, Elderly: 60 - over.

Social/Environmental Requirements:
1.    Work requires periods of close attention to work with out interruption. Concentrated effort of up to 4 hours without break may be required.

2.    Work requires constant response to changing circumstances and using new information to adjust approach and to quickly respond to new needs.

3.    Potential exposure to adverse environmental conditions

o    Daily:  Protective equipment required(Respirator,earplugs,mask,gloves,eyewear etc), Potential exposure to infectious diseases and/or airborne pathogens, Potential exposure to infectious diseases and/or bloodborne pathogens.

4.    Health Care Status:  HCW1: Regular, day-to-day contact; both face-to-face and hands-on (having close contact within three feet for at least five minutes). Examples: physicians, clinical nurses, phlebotomist, medical assistants, PFT tech, and x-ray tech.- Health Care Worker Status may vary by department

Sensory Requirements:
Close work (paperwork, visual examination), Color vision/perception, Visual monotony, Visual clarity > 20 feet, Visual clarity <3 feet, Hot/Cold, Sharp/Dull, Smell, Conversation, Monitoring Equipment, Telephone, Background Noise.

Physical Requirements:
Medium work: Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally and or up to 20 pounds of force frequently. Job is physical in nature and employee needs to stand and/or move around through the majority of their shift.

This job requires constant walking, Endurance-working up to 3-4 hours without a break, frequent standing, bending neck, bending waist, twisting neck, twisting waist, maintain crouch for > 5 minutes, Repetition crouch(>2 times/minutes), Power Grasping using both hands, Fine Manipulation using both hands, Pushing/Pulling using both hands, Keyboard use, Reaching-above shoulder height, Reaching-below shoulder height, Lifting and carrying items weighing up to 50 lbs, Pull up and/or reposition patient weighing up to 100 pounds without assistance, Pull up and/or reposition patient weighing up to 250 pounds with assistance, Pushing items weighing up to 50 lbs, Push a wheelchair or wheeled bed containing a patient weighing up to 250 pounds, with assistance.
 

Pay Range:

$38.00 - $98.19

The pay range listed for this position is the base hourly wage range the organization reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this position at this time. Actual compensation is determined based on several factors, that may include seniority, education, training, relevant experience, relevant certifications, geography of work location, job responsibilities, or other applicable factors permissible by law.  Compensation may exceed the base hourly rate depending on shift differentials, call pay, premium pay, overtime pay, and other additional pay practices, as applicable to the position and in accordance with the law.

As a health care organization, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to care for and protect our patients, our colleagues and our communities. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires that all staff be vaccinated against influenza (flu) as a condition of employment.

More than 35,000 people working together. Nurses, doctors, technicians, therapists, researchers, teachers and more, making a difference in patients' lives. Your skill and compassion can make us even stronger.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled