According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) “Each family is an unexplained mystery, unique in the ways it meets the needs of its members and society” (p. 550). Family nursing is a special field that involves the nurse and family working together to achieve progress for the family and its members in adjusting to transitions and responding to health and illness. The Friedman Family Assessment Model serves as a guide in family nursing to identify the developmental stage of the family, environmental data, family structure, composition, and functions as well as how the family manages stress and their coping mechanisms. From this data, three nursing diagnoses with interventions are developed.
Developmental Stage Family’s presently is in developmental stage four, families with schoolchildren because the oldest child is eight. Fulfillment of developmental tasks gives the children a good basis for coming into adolescence, an age full of growth and changing attitudes. According to The Family Developmental Tasks (2011) website, some developmental tasks include:
“Family activities with the school-age child revolve around expanding the child’s world.
1. Keeping lines of communication open among family members.
2. Working together to achieve common goals.
3. Planning a life-style within economic means.
4. Finding creative ways to continue a mutually satisfactory married life.
5. Providing for parental privacy and space for children’s play.
6. Maintaining close ties with relatives.
7. Expanding family life into the community through various activities.”
The family is fulfilling the identified tasks. The family is a blended family composed of Dad, Mom a divorcee, and her two daughters from a previous marriage. Mom was adopted at the age of six and half, her biological origin is of Native American and French Canadian descent. Dad’s family origin is Norwegian. Mom’s adoptive parents have been married more than 50 years and have six
References: Sparks, S., & Taylor, C.M. (2011). Nursing diagnosis reference manual (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Stanhope, M. & Lancaster, J. (2008). Public Health Nursing Population-Centered Health Care in the Community (7th ed.). Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/DownloadList.aspx?assetMetaId=7fd123c1-f74d-4f75-b035-85dd06157203&assetDataId=1a7f3b2f-63c2-45e3-a479-2190008e0710 Developmental Tasks for the Individual and the Family (2011). Retrieved from http://faculty.ccri.edu/rarchambault/DevelopmentalTasksfortheIndividualandtheFamily.rtf.