PHN-PREP Blog

Public health nurses in their home visiting and outreach work with families and children consistently need to identify, analyze, and make sense of complex situations. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic affected families’ health and well-being, their sense of safety...

Within home visiting programs like Healthy Babies Healthy Children or Nurse-Family Partnership it has been our experience that requests for professional development on “intimate partner violence” (IPV) is a common need. Jody Shepherd RN BScN CCHN (C), a Public Health...

One of the most challenging questions asked by public health nurses is, “what can I say or do if my client shares that she is experiencing intimate partner violence?” In Canada, November is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which gives us an opportunity to remember...

Evidence-informed decision making is foundational to public health nursing practice. However, finding time to locate, access, and review high quality evidence can be a challenge in a busy day filled with home visits, case coordination, supervision, and meetings. Over...

By Jody ShepherdPublic Health Nurse, Middlesex-London Health Unit The act and process of reflective supervision has the potential to create safe spaces for public health nurses to examine and understand the powerful emotions evoked within their home visiting work with...

I always appreciate a good recommendation for a new podcast that I can listen to, whether I am on the road driving to work at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic, commuting to McMaster or just out for an evening walk. “Stories From the Field: Public Health Nursing in...

By Jody ShepherdPublic Health Nurse, Middlesex-London Health Unit   The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous amounts of stress for public health nurses. Nurses have faced different challenges with ongoing changes in their working environment while also dealing...

We are pleased to announce that Anja Cahill RN BNSc BScH has accepted the position as the new Ontario Parent-Child Relationship Program Nursing Practice Lead. As a public health nurse in the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program (KFL&A Public Health) for 12...

We recently sat down (over Zoom!) with Christina Medwid, a Public Health Nurse in Healthy Babies Healthy Children, to chat about her experiences conducting outdoor visits with families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Christina has been nursing with Northwestern Health...

Vaccines and vaccine roll-out plans have been dominating the public discourse for months now; with an (over?) abundance of information from governments and public health officials aimed at enabling individuals to make decisions about COVID-19 vaccination. With all of...