Are you interested in a duo job? Maternity nurse aides have their say

Cicogna would like to keep all of its maternity nurse aides in their jobs for as long as possible and in good health. This is why Cicogna is constantly looking for tailor-made solutions together with their maternity nurse aides. For some maternity nurse aides, a duo job is an ideal solution. Two regular maternity nurse aides, one family.

Maternity nurse aides Miriam and Saskia are great examples of such a duo. That is why we’re happy to hear what they have to say.

• For us, it’s such a good thing to be working in a duo job. This is the solution for us to be able to keep on doing this wonderful job. Working eight sometimes ten days in a row has been quite a challenge for both of us in terms of work-life balance.
• When we were figuring out how we would do our duo job, we worked out how many hours a week we wanted to work (on a contract basis) as ‘work buddies’. And in close consultation with each other, we combined those hours into a single, suitable and continuous work schedule.
• We opted for set workdays. This way, we always know where we stand. We are allowed to make our own roster.
  We’ve only just started working as a duo, but we’re already sure we won’t want it any other way!
• The response from the families has also been very positive.
• A good handover is the key to the success of our duo job.
• By keeping each other up to speed, we always know what the situation is like in the family as soon as we get there and what their immediate care needs are. We work closely together and people notice that. It doesn’t make any difference any more whether Saskia or Miriam comes.
• A prerequisite for a successful partnership is, of course, that both maternity nurse aides are a good match. Attitudes, particular ways of approaching things can vary enormously.
  We really click and are the same kind of people. As we were both used to working solo and each of us had developed our own way of working and had our personal experiences and ideas about all the little things, we had to straighten out a few things before we started this duo job. The main points are obviously the same for both of us, after all, we do work with protocols and guidelines.
• We both have our own specialities, for instance, baby massages, swaddling babies, baby slings, and so on. We know this about each other and in the families, we make sure whoever has the most specialist knowledge is the one who passes it on to the families. We really complement each other then.
• This way, families can benefit from the knowledge that both of us have. The duo job makes the wonderful work we have even more rewarding. We do it together, and people feel that! We also really enjoy it when the postnatal period goes really well.
• Comments from some of the families we have worked with: “If we ever have another baby, we will ask for you both.”