Public health nurses Making a world of difference to new mothers through Early home visits

Background: How important is early home visiting (EVH) to new mothers? What is the nature of the role played by public health nurses (PHNs) in EHV? How do mothers, PHNs, and managers perceive EHV (i.e. universal and targeted)? This paper will discuss the findings of a recent study that addressed these questions. This three-year funded Canadian qualitative study explored how EHV programs are organized, delivered, and experienced

 

Methods: Feminist Poststructuralism guided the study design.  Semi structured interviews; focus groups and documentary analysis were used to reveal the experiences of 16 PHNs, 16 mothers, and 4 managers. Interview and focus group data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed through a discourse analysis lens, by all members of the research team identifying common themes as well as unique or different experiences.

Results: EHV programs positively impact the health of mothers, babies and families in both targeted and universal groups.  PHNs play an essential role in EHV by providing a more comprehensive and accurate assessment than in other settings. In the home, PHNs start by building positive, trusting, non-judgemental and client-centered relationships – an essential skill which puts the mother at ease and creates a climate in which the PHN can provide support relating to breastfeeding, reducing stress, reassuring and building the mother’s confidence, and promoting the physical and mental health of the mother and the baby.

Conclusions: The kinds of important work/ “soft” supports outlined above are not always credited, and can contribute to rendering PHN’s work invisible, misunderstood, and undervalued.