Individual parental conversations with non-birthing parents

AIM: The aim of this study was to describe Child Health Service (CHS) nurses’ experiences with conducting individual parental conversations (IPCs) with non-birthing parents. BACKGROUND: CHS nurses in Sweden mainly focus on monitoring a child’s physical and mental development and the mothers’ health in order to support their parenthood. The assignment of the CHS includes identifying dysfunctional social relationships in a family and strengthening responsive parenting. An imbalance arises within the family when someone in the family suffers from illness, which could have a negative effect on the whole family’s health and well-being. METHODS: An inductive, descriptive qualitative study design was used to describe and to gain an understanding of the CHS nurses’ experiences. Data were collected in 13 interviews, and a qualitative content analysis was performed. FINDINGS: The analysis of interviews with CHS nurses resulted in two main categories, each with three subcategories. The main categories are: working for equality and applying a family focus, and dealing with challenges in the developing assignment. The IPCs stimulate the CHS nurses to work for more equality and to apply a family focus, which can be a way of strengthening the families’ health and the children’s upbringing. Developing the CHS nurses’ assignment can be a challenge that appears to entail positive outcomes for CHS nurses, while also generating the need for CHS nurses to receive supervision to find ways to improve their approach and practice.