Nurse-Family Partnership NewsLink Winter 2018 | Page 8

After a hiatus of several years, we were thrilled to once again hold our National Symposium in Denver. The sold-out event brought together over 400 nurses, supervisors and administrators from Nurse-Family Partnership network partners across the country for three days of networking and education. During the event, we teamed up with like-minded organizations and companies who share our desire to give children and families the best possible start in life. We are especially grateful to our generous sponsors, including Vroom, Happy Family Organics and Medela, who helped make the event a resounding success.

We were excited to partner with Sesame Street, which has long been a leader in education that has helped generations of children grow stronger, smarter and kinder. A new initiative, Sesame Street in Communities, partners with organizations in communities nationwide that focus on giving vulnerable children a strong start in life. Recently they have made strides in bringing topics like anxiety and autism to the forefront of their programming, helping increase dialogue around these issues. At Nurse-Family Partnership, we can draw many lessons from Sesame Street about how to understand children’s feelings and needs, how to communicate and connect with new moms, as well as how to motivate positive change among the families that we serve.

During a breakout session with Sesame Street, attendees participated in an interactive discussion about helping children and parents cope with the effects of early-age trauma. As we continue to improve and refine our approach to trauma-informed care, we thank Sesame Street for providing our nurses with a valuable opportunity for hands-on practice. Sesame Street is a natural partner to Nurse-Family Partnership, and we are grateful for the work they do to support vulnerable children and families.

In addition to their sponsorship, we also thank Vroom for presenting an educational general session at the Symposium. Vroom is dedicated to supporting early learning and development to set children up to succeed and thrive. By translating the science behind brain development into simple steps parents can take to boost their child’s learning, Vroom is helping parents turn everyday interactions with their child into “brain building moments” that strengthen the parent-child relationship and improve their child’s health and development today and in the future.

The Nurse-Family Partnership model has long recognized the critical period of brain development in the first two years of a child’s life, as well as the critical role that strong parenting skills can play in child health and development. In addition to hearing about the latest research and best practices around brain development, several NFP nurses shared in a breakout session how they are putting Vroom’s brain-boosting activity ideas to use with the families they serve.

We thank Sesame Street, Vroom, Happy Family Organics and Medela for their ongoing partnership and commitment to improving the lives of children and families.

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