Family Health Assessment Gcu Nrs 429
ANALYZING A FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT
Analyzing a Family Health Assessment
Frizzle D Jackson
Grand Canyon University: NRS 429 V
June 26, 2010
Analyzing a Family Health Assessment A family health assessment is a process by which a nurse evaluates and describes the health status of a given family. It is a framework that helps to identify areas of potential risk for illness, opportunities for health education and actions needed to address these (World Health Organization, 2001). Specifics covered in a nurse led family assessment will include family history, perceptions about health, reports, health records, and any clinic test results. The nurse conducts an interview, compiles data and performs an appropriate physical exam. She will then select a nursing diagnoses and identify a focus area that benefits the family (Edelman, 2010). One resource the nurse can use for a family assessment is Gordon’s health related behaviors. It identifies 11 focus areas for the nurse to evaluate during family health assessment. A nurse may elicit data from a family by using questions listed in Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns or she may develop her own questions based on an individual family condition (Edelman, 2010). Another useful tool is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . It names and identifies Family Stages. It groups parents and/with children into general age or developmental specific categories. It identifies risk factors and associated health problems that could arise during a particular developmental stage (Edelman, 2010) (World Health Organization, 2001) The author of this paper used Gordon’s 11 Functional Health Patterns and the Family Stages as a guide to develop her own particular questions for assessing and develop a nursing diagnosis for the Johnson family. The Johnson family lives in a suburban area of a city in Arizona. The family has moved together through different family stages. Neither parents
Analyzing a Family Health Assessment
Frizzle D Jackson
Grand Canyon University: NRS 429 V
June 26, 2010
Analyzing a Family Health Assessment A family health assessment is a process by which a nurse evaluates and describes the health status of a given family. It is a framework that helps to identify areas of potential risk for illness, opportunities for health education and actions needed to address these (World Health Organization, 2001). Specifics covered in a nurse led family assessment will include family history, perceptions about health, reports, health records, and any clinic test results. The nurse conducts an interview, compiles data and performs an appropriate physical exam. She will then select a nursing diagnoses and identify a focus area that benefits the family (Edelman, 2010). One resource the nurse can use for a family assessment is Gordon’s health related behaviors. It identifies 11 focus areas for the nurse to evaluate during family health assessment. A nurse may elicit data from a family by using questions listed in Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns or she may develop her own questions based on an individual family condition (Edelman, 2010). Another useful tool is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . It names and identifies Family Stages. It groups parents and/with children into general age or developmental specific categories. It identifies risk factors and associated health problems that could arise during a particular developmental stage (Edelman, 2010) (World Health Organization, 2001) The author of this paper used Gordon’s 11 Functional Health Patterns and the Family Stages as a guide to develop her own particular questions for assessing and develop a nursing diagnosis for the Johnson family. The Johnson family lives in a suburban area of a city in Arizona. The family has moved together through different family stages. Neither parents
References: Edelman C. & Mandle C.(2010). Health promotions throughout the life span (7th ed., pp. 171-197). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Gordon, M Weber, J. R. (2005) Nursing diagnoses (Wellness, Risk, and Actual), Nurses’ Handbook of Health Assessment, (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippencott, Williams & Wilkin World Health Organization