Practice-Informed Guidance Framework

The PHN-PREP project team is developing resources that provide guidance to public health nurses delivering the visiting and outreach activities integral to the Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) and Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) programs in Ontario. These resources provide information based on tacit or practice-informed knowledge, existing guidelines and/or research evidence (when available) and consultation with content experts.

Infographic outlining the six steps in developing a PHN-PREP Practice-Informed Guidance. Steps are detailed in text below.

The PHN-PREP Practice-Informed Guidance Development and Dissemination Process

1

Identify priority topics for home visiting nurses – key stakeholders [e.g., program managers and supervisors, public health nurses, program clients & representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS)] are consulted to develop priority topics for guidance development. Consultations occur through various means including surveys, provincial meetings, or interviews.

2

Elicit tacit knowledge, examine existing guidance and research evidence, and consult experts – the pragmatic and situation-specific knowledge of nurses and managers, implicit to home visiting nursing practice, is elicited through stakeholder interviews, group meetings and document review. This knowledge is augmented and supported by reviewing existing guidelines and research evidence and by consulting with content experts

3

Develop practice-informed guidance resources – tacit knowledge and additional evidence (where applicable) are synthesized into professional resources to guide nurse visiting and outreach practices (e.g., checklists, tip sheets, care pathways, decision aids, etc.).

4

Review and refine tools/resources – PHN-PREP project team and advisory board members, as well as MCCSS partners and other topic experts (as required) review resources for: a) relevancy to public health nursing practice; b) alignment with existing evidence, guidance or standards; and c) overall impression. This review informs revision and refinement of resources prior to dissemination.

5

Disseminate – practice-informed guidance documents and resources are disseminated to target audiences using a range of communication channels.

6

Evaluate – the ongoing use and usefulness of the resources, as well as emerging practice needs, are evaluated using web analytics and other quantitative and qualitative evaluation measures. This information will be used to enhance the PHN-PREP project communication strategy as well as to identify new priority topics for future resources.

1 Adapted from: ECHO (2019). Interested in our tool development process? University of Alberta. http://www.echokt.ca/tool-development-process/

Citation: Orr, E., Strohm, S., & Jack, S.M on behalf of the PHN-PREP Project Team [2021]. Practice-informed guidance framework. School of Nursing, McMaster University.

Get Involved

The PHN-PREP Advisory Board is a group of public health nurses, supervisors, and managers with expertise in implementing and delivering a range of home visiting and outreach programs for pregnant individuals and families with infants of young children.