Families are an important unit in the society. Socially, we are all human beings with needs and therefore, our families comply with our needs giving us the atmosphere of satisfaction. Thus, the importance of families cannot be ignored in the role of family health nursing where they assist the patients in quick recovery by regular follow-up. Since families act as a complete unit in the care of the patient, the patient recovers quickly with the aid of nurses. In the field of nursing, families are included as a part of the care and it is their ethical and moral responsibility to do so. The influence of family in health care is immense. As Lorraine M. Wright and Maureen Leahey in their book entitled, “Nurses and families” state,
“A rich tradition of nursing literature about the involvement of families in nursing care has been evolving, most specifically, over the past 30 years. Some of the classic and more recent texts on family nursing have enabled a new language to emerge through naming, describing, and communicating about the involvement of families in health care. Such terms as “family centered care”; “family focused care”; “family interviewing”; “family health promotion nursing”; “family health care nursing”; “family nursing”; “family systems nursing”; “nursing of families”; and “family nursing as relational query” have all helped to bring forth the awareness and emergence of a vital aspect of nursing practice heretofore, overlooked, neglected or minimized.” (Wright & Leahey, 2004).
Families have been undergoing regular changes. In the past, we came across several such units of families that comprised of a joint-family system. This would include the family members themselves along with their grandparents, their uncles or even aunts. The families of today are more independent in nature and hence, prefer to live alone, nuclear, rather than as a whole unit that would comprise of relatives and other immediate family relations. The changing family status has played an important role in the changing of social and economic changes as well. As Clarence Roberts Jr. in her article entitled, “The Changing Family: How changes in the families reflects social and economic changes in society” states,
“However, the past thirty or so years have seen many changes take place in the family’s structure. We can readily identify four types of family structures coexisting in contemporary society. (1) The basic family consisting only of a married couple; (2) a nuclear family—with both parents and children; (3) the extended family (embracing other relatives, usually a grandparent); and lastly, the “attenuated” family (where one parent, usually the male, is missing from the household).Within the above family structures we find the same decision making tools in place that are found in white families. Patriarchs (where the father/husband makes the major decisions for the family); matriarchs (where the major decisions are made by the mother/wife often in the absence of a male); and thirdly, there is the equalitarian system of joint decision making” (Roberts, 2007).
The families of today continue to shrink and therefore, earlier as we had few working mothers and extended families, the families were big and would comprise of relatives as well as grandparents apart from the family members. We didn’t have high divorce rates previously as we do today. Therefore, the entire structure of the family has changed over a period of time now. Today, we have single families with single mothers handling children (which may include divorced and single women as well). Today, we have families where the role of father as well as the mother is played by a single character, either the father or the mother. Many families prefer to live on their own. Though families, as a whole, are an important focus, the structure of families has changed dramatically over a long period now and thus, the parental roles have been changed today as well. As Kendra Inman in her article entitled, “Family changes” states,
“In less than a century, the family has changed radically. Twenty-five years ago, 25% of mothers with pre-school children were in work; by 1996/7, that percentage had doubled to 50% (although only a third of these mothers worked full-time). And while studies show that most people keep in touch with close relatives and that the family remains the major source of informal care and support, the presence of an extended family can no longer be taken for granted” (Inman, 2005).
Today, our priorities have changed the course of lives that our ancestors used to live several years ago. Previously, our ancestors or our grandparents would give their time and priorities to families but today, as we emerge and follow through the age of technology and independence, our priorities have changed. Marriage is no longer the main issue of discussion today, unless the individual has a traditional family with traditional thinking. Making careers and achieving the highest position today is the main priority that is leading even females to work, thereby delaying the building of the most important block of the community, the family…
With the growing changes, we are learning to adapt to the new factors and incidences. Many changes may occur and the changes may be positive or negative in nature. There are step families, single-parent families, joint-families, nuclear families and thus, due to the different nature of each of these families, the adaptation to changes involved in each of these families is also different (Brown & Mosley, 1998). Thus, family health nursing, according to me is a complete management of the family depending on what kind of family they are. This may include several intervention techniques to help the family cope through their tough times as well as a complete care of the patient itself. Family health nursing involves including the family in my care discussion plan where the family is enlightened about the positive aspects of life and an assurance that the tough times will pass away with time.
Family health nursing is not at all like the doctor-patient relationship, as I believe that nurses involved in the family health care have an extended role to look after the family as well by employing intervention techniques that would help the patient as well as the family through the recovery. In this way, the patient as well as the family of the patient undergoes a counseling treatment process that aids in the better development of families as the insight of “families” in nursing health care involving families extends beyond the treatment… family health nursing aims at taking care of the most important fundamental unit of the society- the family…
REFERENCES:
Wright, Lorraine M., Leahey, Maureen (2004). Nurses and Families: A guide to family assessment and intervention. FA Davis Company, Philadelphia. Page 9.
Roberts, Clarence Jr. (2007). The Changing Family: How changes in the families reflects social and economic changes in society. Yale-New Haven Teacher’s Institute. Retrieved online on the 27th of June, 2007 at http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1990/4/90.04.08.x.html
Inman, Kendra (2005). Families Today. Channel4.com. Retrieved online on the 27th of June, 2007 at http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/F/family/21st/families.html
Brown, Sandra. Mosley, Margo (1998). Changing Families. NC State University. Retrieved online on the 27th of June, 2007 at http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/smp9/parent_education/changing_families.htm