Family Composition
The family consists of five members – Eric (husband, 35), Jennifer (wife, 32), Eric’s mother (Kate, 60), and Steven (8) and Josh (9) (Eric and Jennifer’s children). They live together for the last five years after Dan’s (Kate’s husband) death. They are all Caucasian. There are no certain objections concerning the composition of the family or the family’s ethnic origin.
Roles of Each Family Member
Eric is the leader of the family. Moreover, he is the primary provider of the family. Owing to that fact, he cannot spend a lot of time with his two sons. Jennifer is the secondary provider. Her role in the family revolves more around taking care of Steven and Josh. Kate is unemployed. Therefore, she is not a provider as she suffered a back injury a year ago, and now only stays at home.
Existing Physical or Psychological Conditions That are Affecting Family Function
There are no physical conditions that are affecting family function. Nonetheless, there is a number of psychological conditions. First, Eric is an IT specialist, so he has to spend a lot of hours working on the computer. He currently struggles from depression which, if not addressed, would result in burnout. Second, Steven and Josh wish they could spend more time with their father. The inability to do so resulted in worsening behavior and misconduct.
Home (Physical Condition) and External Environment
The home environment can be characterized as calm, but occasionally stressful. The external environment can also be considered peaceful. Eric and Jennifer earn enough to make a living and provide other family members with all the necessary assets. On the whole, Eric and Jennifer are the only providers in the family as they are working parents. Overall, judging by the living situation, the family can be characterized as an average (typical) American family.
Age-appropriate Developmental Tasks
The family members have adequately accomplished age-appropriate developmental tasks. Steven and Josh were successfully guided by the parents through the stages of development. Both boys display the ability to think and draw logical conclusions. They also realize their identity and recognize their responsibilities. Eric and Jennifer proved to be strict but fair and loyal. Kate also contributed to the education of her grandchildren as she spent time with them, too.
Stress in the Family
Eric’s situation creates stressful situations within the family. He works overtime and has to provide for four other members of the family. This predicament puts pressure on Eric as his options are rather limited. He would be affected by a middle-age crisis, and this will create additional conflicts in the family. Other members of the family are worried as Eric is the leader of the family and his issues would most probably affect his wife, mother, and children.
Current Development Stage
The current development stage of the family is characterized by the presence of two school-age children. The family has successfully gone through all of the previous developmental stages. Eric and Jessica accepted the personalities of their sons and taught them how to interact with other people correctly (Perry, Potter, & Ostendorf, 2013). The parents allow Steven and Josh to stay in their friends’ houses and get involved in complex activities that require the exploitation of acceptable rational and mental abilities.
Family History of Genetic Predisposition to Certain Diseases
None of the younger family members have a genetic predisposition to a specific disease. In turn, Kate has a genetic predisposition to diabetes. This does not cause any issues to other family members. Kate is able to go through regular check-ups in order to identify the disease at an early stage. She believes that she inherited diabetes from her father.
Immunization Status of the Family
All of the family members are immunized and protected. Eric and Jennifer think that it is important to vaccinate their children in order to prevent any adverse outcomes in Steven and Josh or grave consequences for their health (Murphy, 2013). Consequently, the parents are aware of the significance of vaccines and recommend immunizing all children. On the other hand, Kate believes that not all vaccines are beneficial and may undermine the health of her children instead of safeguarding it.
Child Problems
One of the children is experiencing problems. Steven is full of life and curious, but he suffers from miscommunication. The most probable explanation of why this is happening is that Steven misses his father due to the fact that the latter spends most of the time at work and cannot spend time with him.
Hospital Admission of a Family Member
When Kate injured her back, she was taken to the hospital by Eric. It was not an emergency, but Eric contacted the doctor and scheduled the admission immediately. He also explained to Kate why it is important to go to the hospital and told her about her rights as a patient.
Typical Modes of Family Communication
Pluralistic communication is the typical mode of communication for this family. Eric and Jennifer believe that their children should recognize the importance of life lessons. In their family, everyone has equal input, and every opinion counts. Eric and Jennifer want their children to be independent and confident.
Decision-making Process
Resulting from the prevalent mode of communication, the decisions are made after carefully reviewing the opinion of each member of the family. Habitually, the ultimate decision is up to Eric because he is the leader. The decisions that this family makes are rational and do not contradict common sense.
Evidence of Violence Within the Family
This family uses a positive form of discipline. Eric and Jennifer choose to encourage and help their children. They motivate Steven and Josh to become better in every way and behave appropriately in any given situation. There is no evidence of violence within the family because the parents are rather liberal and believe that there is no need for fierceness when it comes to discipline.
Crisis management
The family is able to manage the crisis successfully. The key factor which subsidizes the situation is their peaceful approach to the issue. Moreover, in times of a crisis, Jennifer takes on the role of a mediator and helps the family members solve their problems. Overall, this family’s resistance to the crisis is exceptional. Eric and Jennifer’s positive outlooks impact the other members of the family as well.
Cultural and Religious Factors
There are no cultural or religious factors that influence this family’s health and social status. Besides, the only factor which influences the members of this family is their tolerance. This family believes that the only factor, in this case, is the personal attitude of an individual towards the encountered issue.
Family Goals
Considering the current state of affairs in the family, the members of the family agree that the key family goals should be concentrated on the amount of time that the members of the family spend together (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco, & Hanson, 2014). Eric and Jennifer plan on participating in a community service project. Another family goal is regular family dinners when all the members of the family are present at the table. Both Eric and Jennifer state the importance of a unified family.
External or Internal Sources of Support
There are several internal and external sources of support that are available to this family. The most important role is given to the emotional support which may come from both internal and external sources (Wright & Leahey, 2013). The most evident external sources of support are the friends of each member of the family. Television, music, and books may be considered the most prevalent source of support in this family.
Role Conflict
There is no evidence of role conflict in this family. On the contrary, the roles are allocated properly, and every member of the family is attached to a certain role. This approach helps the family reduce the burden on each family member. Nonetheless, there may be identified as a role overload connected to Eric’s leadership position.
Emergency Plan to Deal with a Family Crisis
The family has no emergency plan to deal with the family crisis. Moreover, Eric, Jennifer, and Kate state that they have never thought that there is a need to elaborate on such a plan. The family members understand the importance of such an emergency plan and hope they have sufficient knowledge to deal with a family crisis or any other disaster.
Nursing Diagnosis and Care Plan
There is a necessity to monitor Eric’s stress level. A stress-reducing approach should be implemented. This would include relaxing activities and a healthy sleeping pattern. The interpersonal relations between Eric and his two sons should also be monitored. In this case, the strategy presupposes that Eric should spend more time with his children. The family should also be instructed to develop an emergency plan intended to help them deal with complex situations in the case of a conflict or crisis.
References
Kaakinen, J., Coehlo, D., Steele, R., Tabacco, A., & Hanson, S. (2014). Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
Murphy, F. (2013). Community engagement, organization, and development for public health practice. New York, NY: Springer.
Perry, A., Potter, P., & Ostendorf, W. (2013). Nursing interventions & clinical skills. New York, NY: Elsevier.
Wright, L. M., & Leahey, M. (2013). Nurses and families: A guide to family assessment and intervention. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.