Family nursing Name of the student

Running head: FAMILY NURSING
Family nursing
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1FAMILY NURSING
Family health care nursing is based on the assumption that health and illness are family
events and family members influence the process and outcome of health care. It is mainly
concerned with the experience of family and it utilizes strength of individual family members to
promote recovery of patient (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele & Robinson, 2018). Nurses much have
adequate knowledge about values and beliefs related to family nursing and this can influence
decision making process. By the use of critical reflection, one’s beliefs and knowledge can be
related to views of the family to promote shift in attitude and engage in transformation learning.
This reflective journal aims to exemplify the above process of critical reflection by selecting
several patients from list of bios and deciding key assumptions behind choosing this group for
care. The article will link all family nursing assessment and health promotion for both group of
patients by linking it with relevant family nursing theories.
When given a choice to select three patients from list of bios, I selected Alex Abraham,
Bernetta Bold and Ernie Erbach. Alex Abraham is a 42 year old man who was recently
diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He has two children at home and he is having difficulty
accepting his diagnosis. The second patient Bernetta is a 78 year old woman who has isolated
herself since her spouse passed away three years ago. She has been referred to home care for an
assessment. The third patient Ernie Erbach is a 29 year old man who suffers from issues related
to polysubstance abuse and he has requested to see a nurse for general health related concerns. I
decided to selected the above three patients based on my personal values and beliefs of family

2FAMILY NURSING
nursing and health promotion. For example, as per my beliefs about family nursing, the health of
an individual is dependent on their relationship with other family members and I had the
knowledge that any change in its members affects family dynamics and health of individual
members (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele & Robinson, 2018). This beliefs about family nursing
encouraged me to select the above three patients because in each of the case scenario, the
patient’s current health or chances of recovery were dependent on their interaction with their
family members. For instance, I had the assumption that change in Bernetta’s behaviour was
observed after her husband passed away which indicated that she lost that one vital members
who used to give her inner strength. Alex is having difficulty accepting his diagnosis because of
concerns about the fate of his two children. In all case, I have found that each of clients has been
deprived of the members who could give them strength and mutual support, which is an
important value of family centred nursing (Kaakinen & Webb, 2017). Based on analysis of the
needs of each patient, I could identify that each of them needed manipulations to their
environment to increase their interaction with family members and improve their health
outcome. Thus, the above need helped me to select these three patients group.
I would proceed with family nursing assessment for each of three patients by first
gathering data related to family experience post a health event. In case of Alex, I will take the
approach to interview him and find out how the new diagnosis has affected his interaction and
time spent with two young children. The changes in pattern will be gathered from other sources