Competency Training, Staff Performance, & Family Outcomes

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center: Competency Training, Staff Performance, & Family Outcomes

This proposal examines the impact of an augmented competency based approach to training of home visitors and supervisors for delivery of the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) on staff performance, fidelity to the program model, and family outcomes relative to child maltreatment and early behaviors associated with youth violence. The central premise underlying the proposed study is that the augmented competency based curriculum and clinical consultation to supervisors will improve nurses' knowledge and skills in working with families, which in turn, will lead to greater fidelity to the home visit guidelines (i.e., quality implementation), which in turn, will result in better maternal and child health outcomes.

A two group experimental design will be used to examine the impact of an augmented competency-based curriculum for NFP home visitors and supervisors coupled with structured clinical consultation by NFP National Office professional development staff, as compared against the standard curriculum currently used, on quality of program implementation and family outcomes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• First time mothers (enrolled during pregnancy) and their children

Exclusion Criteria:

• See above. No other exclusion criteria will be used.