Abstract
A major New Zealand well child care service requires its nurses to establish functional relationships with clients, their family/whānau, and children.  The Family Partnership Model is used to develop nurses' knowledge, skills and techniques to establish partnership relationships and effective communication with vulnerable clients.  The cultural responsiveness of the Family Partnership Model for working with Māori (indigenous people of New Zealand) whānau was investigated within the well child context.  We asked, does the Family Partnership Model support culturally responsive nursing practice within the well child context?  This mixed methods study involved two phases: Phase 1 - an online survey with 23 nurses who had completed the Family Partnership Model training, and 23 who had not; Phase 2 - observation of nurses' practice and interviews with 10-matched nurse-Maori client pairs.  Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were thematically analysed.  Some differences were found for those who had completed Family Partnership Model training in qualities that are necessary precursors for culturally responsive practice, and in areas indicative of culturally responsive practice.  Three themes identified were: having respectful relationships, being client-led, and lacking the skills.  The Family Partnership Model appears to support some development of areas necessary for culturally responsive practice with vulnerable clients.  However, we recommend further work and research is required to support nurses to develop their cultural responsiveness and translate this into their practice.

Keywords
Well child care; family partnership model; child and family nursing; Maori; nurse-patient relationship