Staff from the Family Nurse Partnership (North) team, have received a Big Shout Out for their supportive approach to empowering young mums and their new families.
Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is an evidence based programme to support young mums aged 21 and under who are pregnant with their first child.
Jennifer Duffy, Family Nurse Supervisor for FNP North Lanarkshire, said: “we meet our mums really quite early in pregnancy. We are first introduced to our mums around about twelve weeks of pregnancy and we start to work with them quite intensively. Fortnightly visits is often the case and we develop a therapeutic relationship before the baby is born.”
One of the main ethos of the Family Nurse Partnership programme is to develop trust with clients.
Kirsty Wright, family nurse for FNP North Lanarkshire, said: “The relationship we develop with these clients is amazing and you build that trust with them so they’re able to trust you and sometimes you’re the first person that they’ll go to with any issues, any concerns and also to celebrate the achievements they have generated with their baby and themselves too.
Then once a baby is here, we will visit them again very regularly initially, and follow the programme guidance in terms of visiting pattern as well, which is regular, but again to meet the client’s needs. And we will continue to visit the family up until baby’s two years old and then they will transfer into the health visiting pathway after that stage.
Clients are given the option of giving feedback of the programme and through Care Opinion. Feedback illustrates that the service is working for the clients and meeting their needs.
One client said: “During my pregnancy, my family nurse came out regularly. This experience was amazing as it helped me voice any questions or concerns I had in the months leading up to labour and birth. Even at early pregnancy, my family nurse really settled any nerves I had and always gave guidance and reassurance.
“Overall, my experience was top tier as I was prepared for labour, feeding, changing, upset babies, etc. My baby was born four weeks ago and my family nurse has been out every week. This journey has been the best so far, and I can’t thank Stacey enough.”
The feedback received means a lot to the nurses who have a special bond with those they help.
Jennifer said: “The nurses work really, really hard. And it can be quite an emotional job as well because they are working so intensively with young people who they care about and they want the best outcomes for.
“Feedback has really taken us by surprise because the mums have taken the time to respond in such positive ways and really tell us the difference that the nurse, having the family nurse in their life is made to them and their child.”
Kirsty said: “It’s an absolute privilege to be involved in these wee babies lives from an early stage up until the toddlerhood stage. We have hopefully empowered mums to stand on their own two feet and be the best mum that they can be for their own wee baby.”
Jennifer added: “The programme is designed around about a planned graduation. So there is a plan in place to support that big step. It’s just a joy to see some of these young parents who maybe at first you weren’t certain what outcomes were going to be. But with the programme and with the relationship they’ve actually flourished.”
The Big Shout Out praises NHS Lanarkshire teams for taking an innovative, creative, and patient-centered approach to working, and recognises the unique contribution staff make to overcoming the challenges faced across the entire healthcare system.
