Breast-feeding problems and telephone consultation.
Parents and health care providers may have difficulty obtaining accurate and current information for the management of breast-feeding concerns. This study documents the types of problems that lead family members and health care professionals to seek telephone consultation from a breast-feeding service managed as an activity of a school of nursing faculty practice. During the 6-month study period, calls from 387 individuals (64% mothers and 31% health care providers) were received, for a mean of 64 calls per month. These calls required approximately 9.5 hours monthly to manage. Thirty-one percent of the calls were requests for general information (including stooling and urination or frequency and duration of breast-feeding); an additional 24% requested consultation from or referral to the service. Twenty-five percent of the calls resulted in a consultation with either the clinicians (9.9% inpatient; 9.6% outpatient) or referral to another health care professional (6%). Suggestions for pediatric nurse practitioner practice with breast-feeding mothers and babies were developed from the results of this clinical study.
Gilhooly
J
J
Hellings
P
P
D001942:Breast Feeding; D003253:Consultants; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009734:Nursing Faculty Practice / Q000592:standards