Luci works in the Nurse-Family Partnership Program. The NFP is a home visitation program for first-time moms. We typically enroll clients mid-pregnancy to establish a relationship and to help prepare them for labor and delivery and baby. In late February, we received a referral from our Lowry Clinic for a young refugee client. The client was very pregnant (due any day) and the providers were struggling with this family due to language and cultural barriers, as well as very low health literacy level. Luci was chosen for this client for many reasons. Refugee clients are a bit more challenging when delivering the NFP program model, but Luci had long established she could rise to the occasion as well as bringing 30+ years of Maternal-Child health nursing experience. The majority of her clients are refugees from all over the world. This client was very supported by the Lowry Clinic staff and many other agencies, but Luci was the last piece of the puzzle. With Luci on board, the team of providers was able to get a thorough nursing assessment, reassurance that the client could care for the baby and a glimpse of what home life was like for this family. The Client had unexpected complications at delivery which required Luci to go beyond the weekly postpartum visits to visiting 2-3 times per week. There was concern among the client's providers whether the client was appropriately taking medications as she complained that her pain was not relieved. Luci took it upon herself to visit the client at home and carefully review each medication, how to take it, and even marking the bottles to help differentiate the medications. A typical visit in NFP is about an hour long, with this client due to the many needs of the client and use of phone interpreter, visits were often 2-3 hours long.
Luci's extraordinary acts do not stop there. When the client's family member became concerned about keeping his job due to the time missed from work, together they reached out to the employer to learn about options available to protect his job; in addition, Luci realized that this client needed additional community/family support. Specifically, maternal support. It's hard enough being a first-time mom and even harder without at maternal role model. Luci began to ask her friends who were present at visits if there were any motherly figures in their refugee community and low and behold, she found someone to fit the bill. With all of the appropriate permissions. Luci was able to bring together the client and motherly figure to help ease this postpartum transition and increase the social-emotional support of the family. Luci has become a trusted part of this family's support system. She helps them navigate the many challenges of assimilating to life in the US. Luci helps with the most basic tasks of helping them review their mail to navigate the health care system and help them all get their needs met. Luci is extraordinary. She makes home visitation look easy and yet I know that she has 24 other clients in addition to this one. Each with their own complexities. Thank you, Luci, for going above and beyond.