Family Nursing Essay

Many people have many different definitions of a family. Some include family as the people they live with, some include their entire extended family, and some include friends, neighbors, coaches, and teachers. According to the Vanier Institute (2013), a family is “a combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, and/or adoption” (para. 2). Whichever way you look at it, families often play a major role in life. It only makes sense that when a person begins to go through a drastic change in life such as illness, the family will be involved. This is why it is important that nurses learn how to provide suitable client and family centered care. They can do this by following the four

Nurses interact with families in a variety of community-based and clinical settings. The family nursing process is the same, regardless of the setting or whether the focus is on the family as a whole or on an individual in that family (Crisp & Taylor 2005). In the case of a 3 year old girl just diagnosed with leukaemia, it is important for a nurse to critically analyse the situation and address any immediate concerns. The nurse must address any professional issues that may arise and any potential impacts of hospitalisation that may affect the child and the family. Also provide support and education to reassure and comfort them. The primary concern for paediatric nurses is the welfare of the child and the family (Crisp & Taylor 2005).

Think back to when you were a child and you became ill. All you wanted was the protection and guidance of your mother to take care of you. If you had older siblings, maybe they were the ones that helped make you feel better. Even as we grow older, we rely on our family for support when we are not well. When a family member is ill, it is not just that one person that suffers. When an illness strikes a family member, it oftentimes includes the whole family to deal with the illness also. There are different approaches that a nurse can utilize when dealing with family nursing. Approaches include family as context, as a client, system and a component of society. In this paper, I will discuss where and how these approaches are utilized.

The purpose of this paper is to display how such assessment is essential not on an individual basis, but rather on a larger scale in relation to family nursing. Family nursing “centers on the family as a unit of care, addressing family needs in response to a member’s illness or threat to health, rather than focusing on the individual. An understanding of families’ needs at particular developmental stages, how they communicate and function, and an ability to undertake a family assessment is foundational knowledge for family nursing” (St John, 2009, p.6). Often, nurses encounter the families of their individual patients on a daily basis, yet family assessments are not performed. This is because nurses often feel there is little time to engage families effectively, and in fact lack of time, has been identified by nurses as the primary barrier to engaging families (Kaakinen, 2015, p.109). Evidence based practice however, has proven that “a 15 minute, or even shorter, family interview can be purposeful, effective, informative, and even healing” (Wright, 2013, p.264). This 15 minute interview has been adopted in many acute care settings in involves five key components; manners, therapeutic conversation, key questions, commendation, and the genogram. These ideas represent the theoretical underpinning and are a condensed version of the Calgary Family Assessment Model (Wright, 2013). This model is large, but can be customized and adapted to the function of each individual

A nursing assessment of a family is the basis of nursing interventions. Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) state, “By using a systematic process, family problem areas are identified and family strengths are emphasized as the building blocks for interventions and to facilitate family resiliency (p. 567). The following paragraphs will describe a typical family. The family consists of a mother, a father, a 10 year old daughter, and a six year old son. The family chosen was interviewed individually and as a family.

“A family is a set of interacting individuals related by marriage, blood, and adoption or by cohabitation interdependently perform relevant functions to fulfill expected role” (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). Systems theory allows a nurse to view patient as a whole family unit, which the action of each member will influence one another. Family developmental theory is to assist the patients through every stage of life. Gordon’s functional health patterns are eleven principles incorporated with the nursing process to collect data, assess patients and families, and provide a diagnosis for

There is an obvious deficiency in the application of theory in nursing practice. This paper will include a discussion of how nursing practice is affected by the use of nursing theory. I will provide evidence in relation to how theory based practice relates to the core competencies of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project. I will discuss a journal article that reinforces the gap of nursing theory in nursing practice, and interview colleagues regarding the incorporation of theory in their individual practice. In conclusion I will express my own view point of why theory has been neglected.

Patient /caregiver knows the suitable and correct choice of the dietary intake when she is discharged to home.

Kaakinen et a. (2015) states every family has a story about how the potential or actual health event influences its individual members, family functioning, and management of the health event. Nurses are charged with gathering, sifting, organizing, and analyzing the data to craft a clear view of the family’s story. Family assessment begins from the first moment that the family is referred to the nurse. It is important for nurses to filter data gathered in the story through different views or approaches, which affects how we think about the family as a whole and each individual family member.

One of the things I appreciate most about the nursing profession is that no two days are the same. I am constantly learning new things about the populations I serve and adjusting my practice to meet individual needs. Every interaction challenges me to grow personally and professionally. Although I continue to learn through experience, I have a desire to expand my knowledge, skills, and scope of practice by obtaining an advanced practice nursing degree. As a child, my parents taught me to be kind, patient, and treat others the way I want to be treated.

Bennett (2016) documents that new technologies, social media, changing measures of impact, easy access journals have influenced the way advanced practice nurses incorporate evidence-based research into their clinical practice. Stevens (2015) notes that clinical practice guidelines offer regulation in decision making relating to diagnosis, supervision, and treatment in particular areas of health care. Advanced practice nurses play a vital role in the evaluation and creation of an always-expanding evidence base and are of growing significance in aging societies with a high frequency of disease comorbidities, such as kidney disease.

. The only cost in this programming would be the time put into by the nurses. There has to be adequate staffing so the nurse is able to take the time to accomplish this daily task. There are only a few requirements perhaps having the nurse with the lower patient acuity do the nursing group. The cost would be minimal such as providing the patient with printed material for them to read as some of them learn better by reading.

Registered nursing had been relevant to the U.S since the early twentieth century. Registered nursing first started around 300 A.D. in the Roman Empire and at that time, hospitals were new. During that time nurses would only help aid patients alongside the doctors. Nursing did not improve until the Crimean War and the Civil War. During this time the job developed because soldiers would get injured on the battlefield and instead of dying out there nurses would help aid their wounds. Another factor that helped developed nursing to where it is today is Florence Nightingale. She reformed nursing by improving hygiene. With hygiene improvements the death rate in wars went from 52% to 20%. The idea of hygiene helped evolved nursing into what it is

Moreover, the family understands the specifics about the individual's condition and their daily routines. This can help health care professionals to decide if the person is following the proper steps in their therapy. Once this takes place, is the point that health care professionals can make adjustments to reflect changing realities. Those patients, who have their families involved, will be able to receive better care by ensuring that nothing is overlooked. This is the point that physicians will have a more complete picture surrounding their underlying levels of health. (Saleeba, 2009)

Family as client, seeks understanding and knowledge on how the health of one affects the family unit. This approach to family nursing is something close to my heart. Four years ago, my husband was a prominent successful business man. He was the owner of the family restaurant that had been in the family for 100 years. Our marriage was a typical burnt out marriage, not enough hours in the day for everyone. We have two children, Nodyia 29, married in Oregon, then there is Vito Jr. 15 (now) and intellectually developmentally delayed. My husband is affectionately known as Big Vito to everyone, and loved by all, after all he is the life of everyone’s party. That