Question

List five traits that are common in healthy families. Give examples of how the family nurse would assess these.

(for practice - not part of the discussion unless comfortable with sharing: assess your own family according to the criteria for healthy families)

Discuss the implications for nursing care when the agency’s definition of family is not congruent with those of the patient or nurse, or both.

Answer 1

List five traits that are common in healthy families. Give examples of how the family nurse would assess these.

Families traits (it can be strengths and weakness) plays a major role in the health in the physical condition as well as relationship of famil members. Traits that are common in healthy families are

▪ Commitment to each other in the family

▪ Appreciation and affection among parents and children

▪ Positive communication

▪ Time together

▪ A sense of spiritual well-being

▪ The ability to cope with stress and crisis

Nurses can help better in the family strengths framework and encourage them to incorporate family strengths into the nursing care.

Nursing care traditionally has been practiced within the complexity of families and has included culturally competent, holistic care. Because nurses are the one who are maintain more time with patients, since patients are from different backgrounds and with perspective, we need to importance to the practice they followed.

For example, families who experience psychosocial issues connected to acute or chronic illness rely on nurses to assist them in managing situational crisis, and nurses have a long history of studying psychosocial issues related to family functioning, family strengths and coping with health conditions these can only do by knowing their traits.

As a nurse, they should

▪ Identify strengths and providing feedback to family members

▪ Assisting family members in developing strengths

Calling forth family strengths to achieve goals or solve a problem

Patient may say that at home her family had enjoyable time together because they participated in family activities; this family strength then translates into compromised family coping as the nursing diagnosis and will help for further treatment plan. Thus nurse have a major role in this.