Family composition
The outfit identified is a nuclear family with five members. The father is 38 years old and the mother 33 years old. The firstborn is 12, the second born is 8, and the last born is 5 years old. Out of the three children, only the last born is a girl. The selected family is Caucasian.
Roles of each family member. Who is the leader in the family? Who is the primary provider? Is there any other provider?
The father is the leader of the family and the primary provider. On the other hand, the mother runs the household by preparing meals, doing laundry, preparing the kids for school, and so on. Both parents share the child’s upbringing roles. The children do not have any specific roles as they are still small.
Do family members have any existing physical or psychological conditions that are affecting family function?
Yes. The father nursed an injury while exercising one year back and his injured leg has not been able to support his weight for extended periods of time. In turn, he lost a stable job. Even though he is currently working, the pay is not enough; this has affected his ability to provide for his family well.
Home (physical condition) and external environment; living situation (this must include financial information). How the family support itself
The home is managed by the mother who also recently joined an online community for freelance jobs she can do while at home. The family lives in a three-bedroom apartment in a decent neighborhood, which the father bought before he lost his job. The father is employed as a salesman and is the sole provider of financial support. He earns US$ 550 a month.
How adequately have individual family members accomplished age-appropriate developmental tasks?
The individual family members have accomplished age-appropriate developmental tasks well. The children have reached all the required milestones for their different ages and are graded well in school.
Do individual family member’s developmental states create stress in the family?
Yes. The individual family members have widely different developmental states. The baby of the family, the five-year-old, is treated as a favorite and this brings complications between the other siblings. There is a lot of sibling rivalry, which has also created tension between the parents. The father spoils the little one as she is the only daughter and the mother does not think that raising her in such a manner is ideal.
What developmental stage is the family in? How well has the family achieved the task of this and previous developmental stages?
The family is in the school-age children, developmental stage (Kassaliete, Lacis, Fomins & Krumina, 2015). The family has achieved the requirements for this developmental stage well. For starters, all children are going to school as expected. Secondly, the children have grown through the different stages in school as expected. Social interaction has also been encouraged by the first and second-born going for frequent sleepovers and the last born going for playdates.
Any family history of genetic predisposition to a disease?
There is a predisposition to cancer from the mother’s side. Her grandmother and great-grandmother both had ovarian cancer. The mother is the only child in her family, but she explains that there are several other relatives who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Immunization status of the family?
The children have been fully immunized. The parents were also fully immunized as children and keep up to date with vaccination campaigns. In the past, they ensured that their children, especially when they were under-5, got all required immunizations as proposed by their doctor. The parents, however, will pass on immunization if it is not mandatory according to their family doctor.
Any child or adolescent experiencing problems
There is currently no child experiencing any health problems. The family does not have an adolescent yet.
Hospital admission of any family member and how it is handled by the other members?
There have been two hospital admissions in the family. The first was when the 12-year-old fainted while playing in school. It was realized that the child was malnourished and the mother was advised on the kind of food and the amount the child should be eating. She admitted that the child did not like to eat and that she had not been keen on the problem. The second admission was when the father had the leg injury. Through the two admissions, the mother was under pressure to both stabilize the home and take care of the two. Despite this, all family members came together and helped take care of the patient.
What are the typical modes of family communication? Is it effective? Why?
One mode of family communication face to face talking. The mode has proven to be effective for the parents and the older children can read the non-verbal cues being expressed.
How are decisions made in the family?
Decision making falls squarely on the parents as the children are still young. The responsibility is shared and the adults have to consult with one another before any major decision is made. The mother has more power in making decisions about day to day household activities than the father. Also, the father has more power in making decisions about the use of money in the household.
Is there evidence of violence within the family? What forms of discipline are used?
There is no visible evidence of violence in the family. The children are punished through non-violent ways. For example, they are given time outs when they make small mistakes. They are grounded when the mistake is considered significant.
How well does the family deal with a crisis?
The family has not experienced a huge crisis. However, they have developed a communication mechanism to help children with any form of change. The parents have established a deep connection with the children that allows them to communicate in times of crisis clearly.
What cultural and religious factors influence family health and social status?
The family does not have any religious influences over their diet. However, they do not eat any form of flesh due to their cultural beliefs. Being pure vegans, they have to balance out their food well to get some crucial nutrients that they would have, otherwise, gotten from the meat.
What are the family goals?
One family goal is to realize the personal dreams of each member. The second goal is to have two family nights where they bond and connect with each other. Thirdly, the family also aims to do at least one community service project per month. So far, the family has experienced challenges in keeping with the goals, but they are determined to keep trying.
Identify any external or internal sources of support that are available?
There is no internal source of support for the family. However, they have a good external family support system. The parents also explain that they have good friends who act as a support system now and then.
Is there evidence of role conflict? Role overload?
There is no evidence of role conflict. However, the father has a heavier role as he is the sole breadwinner. It is this reason that has encouraged the mother to take up freelancing jobs that she can do from home through the Internet.
Does the family have an emergency plan to deal with a family crisis, disasters?
The family does not have an emergency plan to deal with a family crisis or disaster.
Identify 3 nursing diagnosis and develop a short plan of care using the nursing process
The first nursing diagnosis is risk diagnosis. Garbuio, Carvalho, and Napoleão (2015) define risk diagnosis as a diagnosis made from potential bacterial infection. For example, if a patient has a catheter, then the RN can establish a risk diagnosis to determine whether bladder infection can be an outcome. In such a case, the relevant plan would be to remove the catheter and treat the infection with antibiotics or any other appropriate drug at that time, as soon as possible.
A second nursing diagnosis that can be made is wellness diagnosis. The diagnosis looks into the overall well-being of the patient. The RN can determine this through the activities of living (Bertilsson et al., 2016). For instance, the RN can monitor the level of self-care of the patient and rank the different activities from 1 – 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being normal.
A third nursing diagnosis is a collaborative diagnosis (Queiroz et al., 2015). For instance, a patient has the potential of suffering from intracranial pressure. The RN can reduce the risk by lowering other factors that can lead to the problem. For example, encourage and put an obese patient under proper diet to lose weight.
References
Bertilsson, A., Eriksson, G., Ekstam, L., Tham, K., Andersson, M., von Koch, L., & Johansson, U. (2016). A cluster randomized controlled trial of a client-centred, activities of daily living intervention for people with stroke: one year follow-up of caregivers. Clinical Rehabilitation, 30(8), 765-775.
Garbuio, D. C., Carvalho, E. C., & Napoleão, A. A. (2015). Concept analysis and content validation of risk of injury to the urinary tract: nursing diagnosis. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 26(4), 170-177.
Kassaliete, E., Lacis, I., Fomins, S., & Krumina, G. (2015). Reading and coherent motion perception in school age children. Annals of Dyslexia, 65(2), 69-83.
Queiroz F. C. M., Sá, J. D., Paiva, M. N., Carvalho Lira, A. B., Oliveira Lopes, M. V., & Enders, B. C. (2015). Association between nursing diagnoses and socioeconomic/clinical characteristics of patients on hemodialysis. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 26(3), 135-140.