Relationship work in an early childhood home visiting program.
A significant component of the work of public health nurses and paraprofessional home visitors who provide home visits to families with young children involves establishing relationships to effectively deliver the visiting program. The purpose of this qualitative and descriptive study was to describe the relationships among participants in a home visiting program in one regional health authority in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Interviews were carried out with 24 public health nurses, 14 home visitors, and 20 parents. The findings related to establishing, maintaining, and terminating relationships as well as factors influencing relationship work are described. Public health nurses and home visitors put significant effort into the work of establishing relationships with each other and their clients and require adequate training, sufficient human resources, and support from the program's administration to sustain these relationships.
Heaman
Maureen
M
Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. maureen_heaman@umanitoba.ca
Chalmers
Karen
K
Woodgate
Roberta
R
Brown
Judy
J
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008350:Manitoba; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011637:Public Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires