The Place of The Family in Nursing

The field of nursing is constantly evolving in order to provide healthcare to the world’s increasingly diverse population. This evolution has brought not only changes in medical care and practice, but also consideration of various inputs that have previously gone unnoticed. (Fawcett, 2005) One of these inputs is the family. Over the past few decades, the nursing profession has begun to realize the importance of the family unit in the patient’s recovery and overall mental and physical wellbeing. In this essay, the importance of the family will be explored in relation to nursing practice and theory.

Family as a System

There are several ways that families work to promote the health of all of their members. When one becomes ill and/or requires medical attention, the influence of the family is particularly important and there is certainly more than one dynamic that the family will impact. (Fawcett, 2005) The family’s goal during a time in which one or more of their members is receiving medical treatment should be to restore the health of that member. (Friedman, 2003) The family unit must work together to provide a great deal of emotional support for the individual. The family should be highly connected and encourage the patient to pursue healthy living lifestyles as well. This can be as simple as helping the individual learn about the recovery process or can be as involving as starting an intensive exercise regimen with the patient for support. Families should also be a place where the patient can turn to in order to cope with their problems. Though the impact of the family is usually in the form of emotional support, it can and does affect the physical health of the patient as well. (Friedman, 2003)

Family in Nursing Practice

In my nursing practice, the concept of family that is most used is the family as an emotional support structure. During difficult and life-changing diagnoses, families are instructed how to correctly cope and help provide support to the patient through this process. Families are often called upon by doctors and nurses alike to ensure the patient has someone to talk to and does not feel isolated. Furthermore, families are sometimes relied upon to be the catalyst for a patient getting healthy. For example, when a patient seems to be hesitant about taking medication, often times the easiest and most efficient route is to discuss the importance of taking the medication with the patient’s family. Normally, the family will be able to convince the patient to take their medication.

It doesn’t seem there is one concept of family nursing that can own the claim of being the most helpful. The various concepts of the family in nursing practice serve different levels of importance in different situations. (Fawcett, 2005) For someone trying to lose weight, the concept of family congruence and togetherness in which the entire family adopts healthy eating habits would be the most useful. For an individual who has just been diagnosed with cancer, an emotional support system of love and caring would be most useful. (Fawcett, 2005)

Nursing Theory

The theory most conducive to my area of practice is Roy’s adaptation model. This model views the patient’s overall health as a function of biological, social, and psychological effects. (Fawcett, 2005) The family certainly plays a large role in this, obviously at the social level, but also at the psychological and biological levels in terms of genetic ancestry. As a nurse, adopting the adaptation model presented by Roy is very useful in terms of realizing the importance of the family and recognizing what great effect they have on the patient’s overall health. Treating the family as a vital part of the patient’s recovery rather than just an afterthought can mean the difference between a speedy and successful recovery and a longer, largely ineffective stay. (Whyte, 1997) It seems my organization has also adopted this theory at least somewhat as nurses are taught that the patient’s health is a function of these three areas and family is considered to be very important in this respect.

Conclusion

Though the field of nursing continues to progress, it is still amazing to look back to a century ago and see how far the field of nursing has come. Certainly, as time goes on, more considerations about the patient and what affects their health are being made and one of the most obvious inputs is the family. Practicing medical professionals who adopt theories that take the family into consideration are able to offer more holistic care that is better for the patient. Undoubtedly, as more studies are performed, we will start to learn exactly how much of a role the family plays in the health of the patient.