Tasha Allen Oral History Interview, 2022

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Summary

Creator:
Allen, Tasha.
Abstract:
Tasha Allen, RN, has a passion for primary prevention and education. She is currently a public health nurse and case manager for high-risk pregnancies with the Durham County Department of Public Health (DCDoPH). Allen has worked in collaboration with Duke midwives in a clinical setting since 2004. In 2004, Allen was one of the first DCDoPH nurses to facilitate Centering Pregnancy groups with Duke Midwifery Service at Lincoln Community Health Center, continuing in this role until 2010. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on November 18, 2022 by Josephine McRobbie as part of the Duke Midwifery Service and Durham Maternal Health Oral History Project, which was funded by The Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund. In the interview, Allen discusses the Centering Pregnancy modality, public health nursing, and the challenges of providing care to under-resourced communities. The themes of this interview include prenatal care, health education, and health disparities.
Extent:
1 Interview (1 transcript) and 660 MB
Collection ID:
OH.ALLENT

Background

Scope and content:

Includes 1 oral history interview with Tasha Allen conducted on November 18, 2022 by Josephine McRobbie as part of the Duke Midwifery Service and Durham Maternal Health Oral History Project, which was funded by The Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund.

In the November 18, 2022 interview, Allen discusses the Centering Pregnancy modality, public health nursing, and the challenges of providing care to under-resourced communities. The themes of this interview include prenatal care, health education, and health disparities.

Biographical / historical:

Tasha Allen, RN, has a passion for primary prevention and education. She was born in 1971 in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and grew up in a military family. She spent her childhood living in locations including Germany, Japan, California, and Nebraska. Allen attended North Carolina Central University for her early college curriculum, Virginia Commonwealth University as a Pre-Nursing student, and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Hampton University in 1995. As a new Registered Nurse, she provided care in pediatrics and as a school nurse before becoming an OB nurse in a public health setting at Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham, North Carolina. Allen notes that her passion as a healthcare worker is in identifying barriers to client health and wellness and finding resources to support her patients.

Allen, currently a public health nurse and case manager for high-risk pregnancies with the Durham County Department of Public Health (DCDoPH), has worked in collaboration with Duke midwives in a clinical setting since 2004. In 2004, Allen was one of the first DCDoPH nurses to facilitate Centering Pregnancy groups with Duke Midwifery Service at Lincoln Community Health Center, continuing in this role until 2010. As a co-facilitator for Centering, Allen taught clients how to check their blood pressure, take their height and weight, and assist in analyzing their urine samples for potential problems. Additionally, Allen set up and tore down the clinics, scheduled clients, called in orders, and provided referrals. She assisted in facilitating conversations during each cohort's "circle time" segments about pregnancy milestones, "dos and don'ts", and preferences for birth and postpartum. She feels strongly about involving partners and other support people in the conversation surrounding care, noting that partners, especially those who are Hispanic or Black men, can often feel "invisible" in the healthcare setting. In her Centering contributions, Allen says, there was a focus on "education, rapport, trust, and consistency between the providers and the patients and the nurses."

Acquisition information:
Accession A2023.004 (transferred by Josephine McRobbie, January 2023)
Processing information:

Processed by Lucy Waldrop: January 2023

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Interview, November 18, 2022.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

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Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Tasha Allen Oral History Interview, Duke University Medical Center Archives.