Examining the Synergy of Practice

Abstract

Public health nurses in Ireland are charged with conducting a home visit to every postnatal mother within 48 hours of hospital discharge. This represents the beginning of a long-term relationship, not only with the mother and newborn child but also with the family. This article fundamentally demonstrates the essential work of the public health nurse in promoting the health of the baby within a family. In this article, the expertise the public health nurse uses in the first visit is examined in the context of 3 competencies: communication, partnerships with the family, and partnerships with individual family members. This expertise provides the foundation for a long-term therapeutic relationship with the family to the essential benefit of the baby’s early childhood growth and developmental milestones. Consequently, the first postnatal visit by public health nursing in Ireland represents a synergy of practice, which provides the foundation for enduring family relationships focused on potentializing both individual family members’ health and the family as a dynamic unit.