Reference no: EM133396728
Family Assessment
The Family
The family I assessed was a middle-class nuclear family of 4, consisting of a married man(49 years) and a woman of 48years, Susan and Sean, both in their late 40s, and their two children, Henry (son), 24 years of age, and Bella(Daughter) 20 years of age. This is a white catholic family that has resided in Yellowknife in NWT, Canada, for the entirety of their lives. All members of the immediate family live in their home that was bought by Bella's parents, except his brother, who lives in Edmonton. Bella's family was originally from Quebec City. Her extended family, which includes her grandparents, uncles, and aunties', live in Quebec and other provinces in Canada.
Bella's extended family includes her maternal Grandparents (Raymond), age 94; grandmother (Martina), age 86, who died of glioblastoma in 2020; and her maternal Aunty (Jolie), who is a nurse, her paternal grandpa(John) died of Hodgkin's lymphoma, Grandmother(Stella) died in a car crash in 1983. Two of Bella's father's siblings died in a car crash at the age of 3yrs and 8yrs. The Grandfather is the biological parent of all of Bella's father's siblings, whereas the grandmother is the biological parent of the two siblings who died in a car crash. Bella's Grandfather remarried and gave to two of Bella's step-uncles and aunty, although separated after a few years of being married. Bella has cousins from both paternal and maternal parents.
Bella's father (Sean) is a warehouse manager in a local business firm; he didn't graduate from High school. However, he went back to school, and he is the breadwinner for the family, although her mom ( Susan) is a Legal Assistant with the Federal government. The father (Sean) served in Army for 21yrs, had a hip replacement, lives with one kidney, and has no spleen, which puts him at high risk of infection. The mother (Susan) was a stay-at-home woman after she gave birth to Bella and her brother Henry. She is dedicated to being a full-time mum to all the children and pays more attention to the upbringing of the two children. However, Susan got a job as a Legal Assistant with the Federal Government in Yellowknife. Bella's brother Henry lives in Edmonton and serves in Army. He will be moving to the United States to Army, which is affecting her family. Bella is a 20-year-old nursing student at a local college and depends on her parents for upkeep funding and school fees. She is dedicated to being an amazing support for both patients. She schedules hospital appointments for the father(Sean) and helps with house chores despite her busy schedule being in nursing school.
All the family members get along well, although there is a long-distance relationship between Henry and the rest of the family since he moved out three years ago after his graduation to Edmonton. Bella and the rest of the family spend most of their time in Yellowknife and only gets to connect with other extended families, such as her grandparent and cousins, on holidays. The extended family is spread out across Canada.
Responses to Family Health Assessment Questionnaire
Health Perception
Bella's general health has been alright. She has had some mental health struggles, but she has been able to reach out for support. Bella's mother got a promotion at her work and has been having anxiety because of the new job but is doing very well other than that. Bella's father had kidney stones again since the last visit and is supposed to have an appointment with the specialist, but they still haven't heard back. They do not have any risk factors because they are fully vaccinated and ensure to complete their health screenings when they are due. On the other hand, Bella's father does not have a spleen so that can put him at risk for different infection, but he is up to date on his vaccinations. When they have prescribed medications that are past the expiration date or that they simply will not be using, then they will bring it back to the pharmacy. Over the counter medications usually do not expire in their household because they only buy what they need. Their previous experiences with nurses and other healthcare professionals have mostly been good, but in the past, there has been some doctors that do not listen to their concerns and dismiss what they are saying. But other than that, most of their experiences with healthcare teams and workers have been overall good.
Self-perception self-concept
They have special assets that they all contribute to each other which having open communication and they are very helpful when the other person needs it. Bella's father is very handy and can repair a lot of the things around the house. Each of they do not have specific roles to play in their family structure, whatever chores or things that are needed in their house gets completed by each of them depending on the day.
A change Bella's father would like to see is a new job opportunity for himself so that he would feel more comfortable and confident in his work. Some changes they would like to see occur in their family is that they all become confident and content with themselves and continue loving each other. As a family they describe self as the things they enjoy doing and don't enjoy doing, and the places they want to go and the people they want to see. Most of the time they are satisfied with who they are, but there are days that are harder than others because they do not feel like they are where they need to be.
Cognitive - perceptual
As a family they have access to information about health from the Internet, and from family members who are in nursing school and already a nurse. The information they receive they interpret carefully to try and not become worried and overwhelmed. Bella's mother reads novels sometimes, her father mostly reads at work and things off the Internet, and Bella is currently still in nursing school so most of her on-going learning is from there. From what they know, over the counter medications are approved by health care professionals, and the use of traditional health practices are sometimes discussed with health care professionals to determine the best course of action.
Activity - exercise
As a family they mostly stay at home to spend quality time together, and they enjoy going on walks with our dogs. Daily activities that they do which include exercise, walking the dogs, shoveling, bringing in pellet bags, and the usual daily chores. Screen viewing activities are incorporated into their daily routines at the end of the day when they usually come together in the living room and watch something on the TV and catching up on each other's days.
- Report on a developmental theory as it applies to each member of the family, e.g, Piaget, Freud, Erikson, Kohlberg's theory.
- Learning from the family visit that impacts future nursing practice as a first-year student. learning about the family as well as the "way of being."