There are two main skill sets to be developed to accomplish nursing objectives: nursing professional and community liaison objectives. The former entails the communication of technical, medical or professional needs, issues and concerns to parents or primary care provider of the infants and the latter deals with the skills to develop creative and productive partnerships with individuals and communities (Buckley et al, 1998).
In parallel studies in counseling dealing with community and social issues, there is indication that these partnerships improves response and participation to programs (Vontress et al, 1999). To facilitate the first set of skills, nursing professionals must have mastery of the health and care needs of infants. These would include the communication and mastery of medical requirements and schedules, providing basic health knowledge and access to services and facilitation of development monitoring of the infant.
The second set of skills requires that nursing professionals become proficient in communicating health objectives to parents, care providers and the community concerning infants; responding to general and specific concerns; become sensitive to socio-cultural issues that are affecting standards and practice of health care for pre-natal and neonatal subjects.
Therefore, the nursing professional must be effective in communicating health knowledge both in formal or classroom settings and in informal settings such as consultations or home visitations. This requires an awareness of cultural issues and socio-economic conditions that may affect medical interventions or care available for infants at risk due to religion, traditions or beliefs.