Opportunities for Partnership

The Turnbull model is an educational one, focusing on special education services. However, many of the opportunities for partnership outlined in the model have implications for nurses working with families of children with disabilities.

These include:

• Communicating among reliable allies. The obligations for reliable alliances will be covered in the next section.
• Meeting families’ basic needs. If the parents are unable to meet their child’s basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and safety, it’s impossible for them to work on higher level goals. This topic will be covered in more detail in Part III.
• Evaluating for special education. Depending on their particular role and job functions, nurses may be more or less involved in the process of evaluating a child for the early intervention or school systems. Nurses often make referrals for professional evaluation, participate in portions of the evaluation, and teach the family to advocate for the child during this evaluation process.
• Individualizing for appropriate education and placement: Again, the nurse’s involvement varies by job function. Nurse case managers may plan a key role in the IFSP and IEP processes that dictate educational placement and services.
  

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Nurses who work with families of children with disabilities have no role in the special education decision-making process.