Implementing Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)^®

NFP does not have a certification process. Agencies are considered official NFP implementing agencies only after their implementation plan is approved and the agency and the NSO sign a formal contract.

Before a contract is offered to a prospective implementing agency, program development and nursing staff from the NSO engage in a formal due diligence process with that agency. During this process, the agency (1) demonstrates a community need for NFP services and a plan to coordinate with any other home visitation programs serving low-income families; (2) provides the NSO with the number of low-income, first-time births in the catchment area per year; (3) describes a plan for the sound financing of the program; (4) articulates its experience with innovative programs; (5) demonstrates community support for NFP or the potential for that support; (6) describes its ability to coordinate with existing health and human services programs; (7) demonstrates the ability to establish a highly effective referral procedure, ensuring enough voluntary enrollments in the program; and (8) demonstrates the ability to recruit and retain qualified registered nurses.

The NSO requires that nurse home visitors complete three core education sessions, in both distance and in-person training formats. The sessions take place over about nine months.

Nursing supervisors must complete the same core education sessions as the nurse home visitors. They also must complete four introductory education sessions designed for supervisors, including two in-person sessions.

Supervisors receive topical, electronic team meeting education modules to use based on the training needs of their nursing teams. In addition, the NSO nurse consultant supports supervisors to create professional development plans for each nurse home visitor and to use the expertise of other professionals in their communities to meet unique team learning needs. Agencies and supervisors also have access to reports that support quality improvement by making data analysis and program performance monitoring more accessible and user-friendly.

Training materials are available through the NSO and are provided to attendees during introductory education sessions.

NSO nurse consultants who meet education competencies established by the National League of Nursing and the World Health Organization provide training.

NSO nurse consultants provide regular, ongoing coaching and consultation to implementing agencies and nursing supervisors on model fidelity, organizational capacity, organizational culture, nursing practice, nursing management, establishing and retaining caseloads, use of data to improve practice, community linkages and program sustainability, and participation in research.

In addition, the NSO provides technical support in 10 areas: (1) orientation to the model and its implementation and evaluation requirements; (2) community planning; (3) selection of implementation agency or entity; (4) staff recruitment, retention, consulting development, education, and coaching; (5) model implementation; (6) continuous quality improvement; (7) research; (8) evaluation; (9) contracts; and (10) marketing and communication.

The information contained on this page was last updated in October 2019. Recommended Further Reading lists the sources for this information. In addition, the information contained in this profile was reviewed for accuracy by the Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office on October 28, 2019. HomVEE reserves the right to edit the profile for clarity and consistency.