Two Nurses on the move
When Parenting is an Overwhelming
When Cornelia Racek’s cell phone rings, it is likely to be an emergency. Perhaps the parents of a three-month-old child have fed him roasted potatoes, so that he screams now with acute colic. “Parents are often totally overwhelmed by their children, and if we weren't there, most of these kids would end up in foster care,† explains this duo of qualified pediatric nurses Cornelia Racek and Birgit Boedeker. Together with Jessica Jannssen, they work as a team of three delivering outpatient nursing services to children. The calls come in from the office of social services, from family doctors, from mothers and fathers who find themselves unable to cope with their own children. The job is full-time, and they are constantly on standby. Their goal is to help parents avoid having their children removed from the home by social services. In one case, the mother is 19 years old, and the father of her child is her own 61-year-old stepfather. “In many instances, family relationships are so difficult that the child suffers as a consequence† explains Racek. “Oftentimes, parents can't deal with one another. Incestuous relationships are frequently a factor. We always find it very difficult to deal with that. But these people have a right to assistance too.† Parents want to keep their children, to care for them and watch them grow up. But the preconditions for success are often lacking. These two nurses on the go are more than simply nurses. They are also social workers, educators and psychologists. They accompany families on appointments to government agencies, push through their welfare applications, refer those who cannot read and write to adult education centers. “With our help, they accomplish a lot, and most of them are grateful that we are there for them,† says Cornelia Racek. “They would never be able to make it alone, and they know it,† adds Birgit Boedeker. Die Eltern wollen ihre Kinder behalten, lieben und großziehen. Aber die Voraussetzungen hierfür sind oftmals nicht geschaffen. Die beiden Kinderkrankenschwestern on tour sind mehr als Krankenschwestern. Sie sind Sozialarbeiter, Pädagogen und Psychologen. Gehen mit den Familien schon mal zu Behörden, boxen dort Hartz-4-Anträge für sie durch oder schicken jene, die nicht schreiben und lesen können, zur Volkshochschule. „Wir erreichen viel bei Ihnen, die meisten sind sehr dankbar, dass wir da sind“, so Cornelia Racek. „Alleine würden sie es nicht schaffen, das wissen sie“, fügt Birgit Boedeker dazu. A strenuous occupation, especially when it starts to get under your skin. “There are cases where you know that the child really has it bad. When he has his 10th black eye, and is black and blue yet again, then you know he has been abused. In such cases, we simply have to give up and turn the case over to social services. As a last resort, if we recommend it to social services, the child is taken away from the parents. Such children are then placed in foster care.† “That's really devastating for me,† says Birgit Boedeker. The child is better off, but it is deflating to realize that nothing they have tried has done any good. “You always have the feeling of having failed.† All three nurses have their own families and children. “But our kids are already older, otherwise it wouldn't work. You could never do this job if you had small children yourself, you’d lack the needed distance,† says Cornelia Racek.
