From left: Tegan and Khang Nguyen with their daughter, Ruby, and Jennifer Riley, a lactation consultant

To help staff prepare for the Magnet site visit occurring March 26-29, each week BWH Bulletin will feature an example of a hospital initiative that demonstrates how the Brigham exemplifies the hallmarks of a Magnet institution. The following program reflects the hallmarks of high-quality patient care and clinical excellence.

Seeing a need to standardize patient education around breastfeeding and lactation, BWH nurses assembled and implemented an evidence-based curriculum in these areas. The result: higher patient satisfaction scores around breastfeeding support.

The program focused on physiology, education, simulation and peer-to-peer teaching. Clinical nurses completed 15 hours of training in a patient breastfeeding support class and participated in a two-year skills lab, where they advanced their knowledge of breastfeeding education and developed teaching strategies. Based on this program, the team spearheaded successful several initiatives:

• Investment of 20 new breast pumps and retrofitting all current breast pumps with specialized parts that promote milk supply in the first hour after delivery.
• Provided booklets to all clinical nurses to support standardization of education.
• Establishment of a donor milk program to support nurses’ assessments of those needing supplementation while promoting breast milk exclusivity.
• Revision of the Infant Feeding Policy to be consistent with support of breastfeeding exclusivity and improved maternal neonatal outcomes.

Following these interventions, Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores regarding breastfeeding education rose from 86.8 percent in 2014 to 90.3 percent in 2016.