September 10, 2012
Family Values
Family nursing is still seen as a fairly new specialty area in nursing. There has been discussion to define what family nursing is and what role family and nursing play in this matter. The consensus is that all definitions have as core concepts the notion of providing nursing care to families and family members (Braun & Foster, 2011). Nurses have realized what an important role that families can play in promoting positive health outcomes by getting them involved in patient care. With that said families are seen in the context as how the nurse sees them and works with them. There are several definitions and concepts of family and they are believed to contribute to education, research and theory.
Family Concepts
The first concept seen is family as context. The patients care is individually focused and the family is seen as a resource but also can be seen as a stressor. The patient is seen as the primary focus and the nurse includes the family if she sees it to be of value and beneficial to the patient as a resource. In regards to promoting health with this type of nursing the patients family becomes involved if the nurse sees it as a benefit and if so they can help the family and be a good resource for them. The second concept that is seen is family as sum. In this type of nursing the whole family is treated and when they have all been treated then care has been provided. Health promotion has been met when care is provided to all family members. The third concept is family subsystems which is the basis for interpersonal family nursing. Examples of this type of nursing would be marital relationships and care giver issues. The fourth concept is family as the client. The patient is the whole family and that is what the focus is about. Family dynamics and relationships are examined along with the outer environment. The last concept is family as a component of society. The family is seen as
References: Benzein, E., & Hagberg, M. (2008). Being appropriately unusual :a challenge for nurses in health promoting conversations with families. Nursing Inquiry, 15(2), 106-115. Braun, V., & Foster, C. (2011). Family Nursing: Walking the Talk. Nursing Forum, 46(1), 11-21. Friedman, M., Bowden, V., & Jones, E. (2003). Family Nursing: Research, theory, & practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Sjoblom, L., Pejlert, A., & Asplund, K. (2004). Nurses view of the family in psychiatric care. Issues in Clinical Nursing, 14(0), 562-569.