Nurse practitioners and parent education: a partnership for health

PURPOSE: To present the findings from a pilot-test of an innovative curriculum for parent education classes that included information about well child care and the care of sick children presented to substance abusing women at a residential drug treatment facility. DATA SOURCES: Selected literature and the results of a comparison of pre- and post-tests from the 37 women who received the classes over a 6 week period. CONCLUSIONS: The Healthy Children, Happy Children parent education program was successful overall in increasing the knowledge of the mothers about common skin disorders, care of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, and basic first aid. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurse practitioners (NPs) are well suited to teach parent education classes that contain information on growth and development, well child care and diagnosis and management of acute minor conditions. The Healthy Children, Happy Children curriculum can be adapted to a variety of settings and populations.