Home > Supporting & Preserving Families > Family Support Services > Home Visiting > Nurse-Family Partnership

Nurse-Family Partnership

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) programs have specially trained registered nurses deliver home visits to first-time, low-income mothers for a period of 2 1/2 years, beginning early in pregnancy. NFP's national office provides training and support services to ensure that the model is replicated precisely in communities, leading to improved outcomes for both mothers and children. The following resources offer information on the Nurse-Family Partnership program and its effectiveness, including State and local examples.

	Nurse-Family Partnership Offers research evidence, a description of the home visit experience, information on State and local sites implementing the model, and more.

The Nurse-Family Partnership: An Evidence-Based Preventive Intervention
Olds
Infant Mental Health Journal, 27(1), 2006
View Abstract
Summarizes a 27-year program of research that has attempted to improve early maternal and child health and future life options with prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses.

Nurse-Family Partnership Improves Children's Cognitive Functioning (PDF - 39 KB)
Gordon (2005)
Interview with David Olds, Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics and director of the Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, who was the lead author of a Memphis study on the Nurse-Family Partnership.

Research Brief: Nurse-Family Partnership (PDF - 180 KB)
Argosy Foundation (2006)
Summarizes the research evaluating the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) where three blind, randomized treatment-control studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the NFP. These studies resulted in 13 papers measuring the impact of the NFP on mothers and children up to 15 years after childbirth.

The Story of David Olds and the Nurse Home Visiting Program: Grants Results Special Report (PDF - 769 KB)
Goodman (2006)
Highlights the development and goals of the nurse home-visitation model and findings from local programs.

Taking Preventive Intervention to Scale: The Nurse-Family Partnership (PDF - 175 KB)
Olds, Hill, O'Brien, Racine, & Moritz
Cognitive and Behavioral Practice (2003)
Outlines a program of research aimed at improving the outcomes of pregnancy, child health and development, and maternal life-course through a program of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses to low-income mothers having first babies. Particular attention is given to development of the National Center for Children, Families, and Communities, which serves as the organization devoted to replicating the Nurse-Family Partnership in new communities with fidelity to the model tested in the trials.

Translating a Research Intervention into Community Practice: The Nurse Family Partnership
O'Brien
Journal of Primary Prevention, 26(3), 2005
View Abstract
Discusses strategies used to promote successful translation of the research intervention into clinical practice, findings from the evaluation of the replication of the Nurse-Family Partnership in 22 States, and challenges experienced in moving a research program to practice.

(Back to Top)

State and local examples

Final Report to the Administration for Children and Families: Effect of the Nurse Family Partnership on Government Expenditures for Vulnerable First-Time Mothers and Their Children in Elmira, New York, Memphis, Tennessee, and Denver, Colorado
Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation
Discusses the findings of a study that conducted long-term economic analyses of the Nurse-Family Partnership program at three sites.

Growing What Works: Lessons Learned From Pennsylvania's Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative (PDF - 1620 KB)
Stavrakos, Summerville, & Johnson (2009)
Provides lessons for replicating evidence-based models statewide and includes information on selecting implementing agencies, fostering relationships among geographically dispersed sites, monitoring program results, and engaging local leaders.

Minnesota Title V MCH Needs Assessment Fact Sheets: Pregnant Women, Mothers and Infants: Home Visiting to Pregnant and Parenting Families
Minnesota Department of Health (2004)
Reviews statistics on the number of Minnesota families that would benefit from home visiting programs and characteristics of the caregivers and children who received services in the Family Home Visiting program in Minnesota from 2001-2003. The success of the Nurse-Family Partnership Home Visiting program is highlighted, and additional Minnesota home visiting programs are described. (PDF - 54 KB)

(Back to Top)

Updated on February 24, 2010