The hospital liaison process: identifying risk factors in postnatal multiparas.

Postnatal home visiting has been a routine part of the public health nurse's role in Canada for decades. Resource limitations in recent years have required Health Units to justify programming choices and in some cases have dictated a shift toward more intensive service provision to high risk clients. This study examined the screening accuracy of a tool developed for use by hospital liaison nurses to identify multiparas in need of home visiting. Results showed poor agreement between client information collected by the hospital liaison nurse and the assessment done by the PHN in the clients' home, even when explicit referral criteria were used. Changes are required in the referral process to effectively screen postnatal clients in need of further services.