Home visiting nurse

Susanne Hede
- home visiting nurse

I am very pleased to work as a home visiting nurse because it is so positive. Contrary to almost all other specialist areas, the focus is on what is healthy and normal instead of what is abnormal. One of the most important things in my job is to prevent disease and promote healthy behaviour in both the infant and their parents.

My primary job is to monitor how the infant develops and thrive during their first year of life. Furthermore, it is to support, guide and inform the parents on how they satisfy the infant’s needs and solve problems related to breastfeeding, the infant’s sleeping pattern, eating habits etc.

The job demands courage and good intuition. I visit the infant and the parents in their home and sometimes it takes a lot of courage to knock on the door of complete strangers. Intuition is necessary to find the right moment to introduce a new – maybe sensitive – issue. Parents are attentive but they can also be very sensitive to criticism.

A good contact and mutual trust is essential in my effort to inspire and motivate parents to do what is best for the infant.

Once a week I work at the local school. All children from 1 to 9 grade have an eye test, their height and weight is measured and I talk to them about health related issues. Many children question e.g. if they are too heavy or too skinny.