FNP Celebrates International Nurses Day
1. Reflections from FNP National Clinical Lead:
Today marks Florence Nightingale’s 205th birthday and the International Day of the Nurse, an opportunity to appreciate and celebrate the work of nurses throughout the world and reflect on the theme “Caring for Nurses Strengthens Economies”. Nothing more could be true of family nurses delivering the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP), a programme in which amongst others aims to improve the economic stability of the family.
The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is a licensed intensive home visiting service offered to all eligible first time mothers aged from 19 years or under and, in many areas of mainland Scotland, up to the age of 25 from early pregnancy until their first child is 2 years of age. Family Nurses develop therapeutic relationships with young parents, working in partnership to deliver the FNP programme, based on the theories of attachment, human ecology and self efficacy. The aim is to improve maternal and birth outcomes, child health and development, and the economic stability of the family.
The impact of FNP is well evidenced internationally, however, perhaps is best captured from clients themselves who consistently share how much they value the opportunity to have had a family nurse. A professional they can trust providing advice and guidance and enabling them to independently make the best decisions both for themselves and their children.
For young mothers to have the capacity to nurture and care for their children well, they too need to feel nurtured and cared for. In turn, family nurses require to feel valued in order to deliver such an intensive therapeutic programme. David Olds the founder of FNP recognised this from its inception back in the early nineteen seventies. Understanding the positive impact of supervision on both clinical practice and nurse wellbeing, he assured that that a robust supervision model was built into the programme licence.
Supervisors meet with individual family nurses weekly, utilising the Hawkins & Shohet’s seven-eyed model of supervision to focus not only on client factors but also the wider context and potential influences on a nurse’s practice and capacity to deliver the programme. This is in addition to regular team supervision supported by psychologists and child protection nurse advisors. In the wake of the covid pandemic, the benefits of supervision are becoming increasingly recognised and hopefully will become embedded throughout the nursing and midwifery profession.
We are grateful and appreciate that the FNP programme licence protects and prioritises supervision for family nurses, for whom promoting their wellbeing is essential, enabling them to work in partnership with parents and achieve the best outcomes for their children.
2. Reflections from a Family Nurse (Aileen McConnell):
The part of my role I value the most is working directly with a caseload of inspiring young women in Glasgow South. I am grateful to be in a very privileged position to hopefully support, equip and empower them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to be able to be the best versions of themselves. I aim to support young people to embrace their passions and develop a sense of identity, self-efficacy and independence, and help them solve issues or break down barriers they may experience. I also deeply value the FNP child-centred approach. This involves prioritising the child's health, safety and well-being, needs, rights, and views in all interactions to ensure that a child's voice is always heard.
Every day is a learning experience for me, and I love that about the Family Nurse role. Working with my clients is a two-way process where we both hopefully learn from each other, promoting richer and more engaging experiences and discussions. There is a high level of personal growth and satisfaction with consistent recognition and appreciation, continuous learning, teamwork and collaboration. Each day I am required to expect the unexpected, and no day is the same bringing new opportunities, challenges, and moments of growth. I believe being a self-aware, honest, authentic, and transparent nurse and using humour and fun, are the key ingredients to meaningful connection, building trust, engagement, and creativity in young people.
3. Reflections from the Dumfries and Galloway FNP Team:
The things we enjoy most about working with our clients and their babies are:
- The therapeutic relationships that we build with our clients
- Connecting with people from different backgrounds and cultures
- Being part of our clients journeys
- Celebrating with our clients when they achieve their hearts desires.
The things we value within our FNP team are:
- The depth and variety of experience shared within the team
- Professional development opportunities such as to become a Queens Nurse
- Regular one to one and team supervision
- The autonomy of the role allows us to feel empowered, listened to and be the best Nurse we can be.
- We have fun and a great sense of humour.
- We all want best outcomes for our clients.