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 Home Nursing Agency's Nurse-Family Partnership Program Receive Gifts Galore Employees in several departments within the Home Nursing Agency recently made generous gift donations to mothers and babies enrolled in the agency's Nurse-Family Partnership Program - where registered nurses provide home visitation for first-time pregnant mothers and their babies throughout Blair and Huntingdon Counties. This program is a joint effort with the Home Nursing Agency, Families First' of Huntingdon County and 'Families First Collaborative' of Blair County. “With these gifts, our nurses can give their mothers and babies educational toys and materials to keep. In the past we have been very limited to what we could give away. Now, we can make sure our families have items for their babies ” according to Lisa Ritchey, supervisor of Home Nursing Agency Nurse-Family Partnership. This is a voluntary program available at no charge to first-time moms who meet income requirements. Funded by grant monies, the program currently has an enrollment of 80 new mothers. Nurses go into the homes and provide education and assistance to mothers early in their pregnancy and continue to work with the family through the baby's second birthday. “These gifts will be given all throughout the coming year to celebrate the successes and milestones of both mother and baby,” said Ritchey. “I feel so privileged to work for the Home Nursing Agency whose employees have shown so much generosity to this program.” Recent studies concluded at the University of Colorado have indicated that programs such as Nurse-Family Partnership have shown high success rates in promoting healthy growth and development of the baby, helping mothers understand normal behaviors of children and how to cope when these behaviors become challenging. Studies have also shown an increase in mothers' finishing or continuing their education and finding stable employment. Ritchey said the nurses in her program typically form very strong bonds with the mothers and develop 'mentoring relationships' with them. “It's very common for our nurses to be considered as big sisters.” For more information on Nurse-Family Partnership or any of the many other programs offered by the Home Nursing Agency, call 1-800-315-4358 or 942-1903. 
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