How Personal Connection Set the Foundation for Success: Trish Dauer’s Journey to Home Visiting

Trish Dauer’s path to nursing and home visiting wasn’t a straightforward one. With a natural inclination toward the human-centered aspects of healthcare, her journey was defined by exploration, adaptability, and a deep passion for connecting with people during critical moments in their lives.

The Shift to Public Health and Home Visiting

Originally thinking she might want to be a labor and delivery nurse, one uninspiring instructor quickly changed that plan for Trish. “I realized what I loved most was the deep conversations—the moments when people really opened up.” That led her to adolescent psychiatric nursing. “My first job at an adolescent psychiatric facility was intense—I was barely 23 and suddenly in charge of a unit. But it was also where I learned how to truly listen. I have always been that person who friends came to and talked to about their problems, and I really like teenagers (a lot of people don’t!)” During an internship at Spokane’s Sacred Heart Hospital in the Adolescent Psychiatry unit before nursing school, Trish shared that her natural ability to talk with people about really hard things came easily, and the tough conversations became her strength.

Following nursing school and her first role in a private adolescent psychiatric facility, Trish knew she wanted something more structured. “I wanted somewhere I could grow. I flirted with the idea of emergency medicine but ended up in public health in Snohomish,” where an early supervisor recognized Trish’s ability to engage with people and encouraged her to start conducting home health visits. “Those first home visits were eye-opening. I drove into neighborhoods I’d never been to, stepped into homes where families were just trying to survive, and realized quickly—there’s no script for this job. Every visit was different, every situation unpredictable. I had no background in maternal-child health, but I knew how to talk to people, and that made all the difference. I found myself having some of the hardest but most meaningful conversations of my career—about postpartum depression, domestic struggles, and the weight of new motherhood. It was messy, but it felt like exactly where I was meant to be.”

Despite having no formal maternal-child health experience, she leaned into her strengths, supporting young parents and learning everything else along the way. That’s when she heard about NFP training and the structure and reasons behind home visiting practices seemed to make sense.

Finding Her Calling in Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)

A year into public health, Trish found Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) and knew she had found her niche. The structured, evidence-based approach felt like the perfect balance of science and human connection. “The training was intense, but I was confident in my ability to connect with young moms and help them navigate their challenges,” Trish reflected. ”Parents can work through their personal struggles while still being present for their babies. We can hold space for both.”

The Evolution of Home Visiting and Leadership

After years as a home visitor, Trish now leads the Nurse Family Partnership model for Washington state. “Leadership in home visiting isn’t easy. Funding is always precarious, and I’ve spent more time than I ever expected fighting to prove the value of this work.” Trish recently testified before Washington’s Senate Ways and Means Committee in support of home visiting and preservation of recent budget adjustments to provide more equitable funding for home visiting rates. “Home visiting is one of the best investments in preventive healthcare, but it’s still an uphill battle for recognition and stable funding. I’ve seen firsthand how early support changes lives, and I’ll keep fighting for that. This work isn’t about fixing people, it’s about showing them they already have the strength and resources to succeed. Sometimes, all they need is someone to remind them of that.