Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/35014
Title: How do maternal and child health nurses incorporate infant mental health promotion into their clinical practice? Experiences of an Australian municipality.
Austin Authors: Stevens, Helen;Sheeran, Leanne;Buist, Anne 
Affiliation: Research and Education Department, Parent Infant Consultants, Melbourne, Australia.
School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, Australia.
Psychiatry (University of Melbourne)
Issue Date: 22-Jan-2024
Date: 2024
Publication information: Infant Mental Health Journal 2024-01-22
Abstract: The field of infant mental health (IMH) has offered valuable insights into the critical importance of social-emotional development, including the enduring influence of early experiences throughout life. Maternal and Child Health (MCH) nurses are ideally placed to facilitate knowledge sharing with parents. This Australian-based qualitative exploratory descriptive study explored how MCH nurses incorporate IMH in their clinical practice, and how they share this information with caregivers. Ten community-based MCH nurses participated in voluntary, semi-structured interviews which were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Findings identified five themes that characterized how MCH nurses incorporated IMH concepts into their practice. These themes were: prioritizing physical health promotion activities, highlighting infant communications, variations in knowledge and application of IMH concepts, workplace time schedules, and the relational nature of the work. Recommendations include encouraging IMH as a health promotion activity, facilitating IMH assessment, further education, reflective supervision, and extension of predetermined appointment times to enable knowledge and skill sharing. Further research is also recommended to provide additional insights into how nurses with IMH training promote and share IMH concepts with caregivers. Adoption of these recommendations would further enhance the care given to families and the role of the MCH nurses.
URI: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/35014
DOI: 10.1002/imhj.22103
ORCID: 0000-0003-1943-1006
Journal: Infant Mental Health Journal
PubMed URL: 38254263
ISSN: 1097-0355
Type: Journal Article
Subjects: infant mental health promotion
infant social emotional health
maternal and child health nurse
parent-infant relationships
Appears in Collections:Journal articles

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