Public health nurses' assessment of early interaction between infants and parents.

Background: Good early interaction impacts significantly on children's development and their parental attachment. Children develop their basic attachment in their first year of life. Early efforts are therefore important in order to identify challenges. Visits to the child health clinic provide a unique opportunity for public health nurses to assess the early interaction. Objective: The study's objective was to describe the assessments made by public health nurses of the early interaction between infants and parents. In order to find the answer to our question, and to increase our understanding of current practice, we asked a group of public health nurses what observations they make, how they act on their assessment, and how the wider framework conditions influence these actions. This knowledge will be useful to the practice and professional development of public health nurses. It will also be useful for those who are responsible for organising nursing services at child health clinics. Method: We conducted qualitative individual interviews and analysed them using Tjora's stepwise-deductive inductive method. Results: The results suggest that public health nurses' assessments of early interaction involve a complex mesh of observations, actions and wider framework conditions. Public health nurses make relevant observations based on experience, but these observations are not put into a well-defined system using recognised methodology. It appears that the public health nurses' actions are dependent on the local authorities' service provision and wider framework conditions. Professional updating is not prioritised and interdisciplinary collaboration is felt to be person-dependent. Conclusion: Improvement to the current assessments made of early child-parent interaction will require more systematic and better-structured work at multiple levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]