Family case study
Family is the backbone of a human social support network, and its availability is vital in every person(s) life. However, several changes develop when a member of the family gets ill, particularly a long-time illness; thus, a nursing intervention that considers family needs is critical to increasing the emotional health and wellness of the family. A nurse intervening to help a family through stress is one of the essential strategies because stress is a stage that every family with a sick person goes through. An action that is associated with helping a family cope with stress is communication that mainly entails; helping the family understand, cope and accept the disease, communicating openly and effectively with the family, validating the need of connection with the family, and promoting active listening among the family members (DeGrande, Liu, Greene & Stankus, 2018).
In a Case of P family, which is composed of a husband, wife, and three children, stress (emotional condition) is the challenge that I observed. The family is under pressure after the husband, a 65 years old man, was diagnosed with a stroke three months ago. The news of the long-term illness has been challenging for the family, both financially and mentally, based on the fact that he, as the head of the family, has a great responsibility. All the children are all grown-up, where one is studying at the university, and the other two are working a few miles away. The children rarely come home to visit unless on specific holidays because they are embarrassed by their father’s condition. Also, the wife has increased emotional distress while caring for her husband. Due to the current situation, I think the family needs to have communication with a nurse to receive mechanisms on how to cope with the stress. According to DeGrande et al. (2018), helping the whole family cope with stress significantly impacts the patient outcome.
I would plan two visits per week to the family, where I would invite all family members to participate after deciding on their most flexible time. This will help in creating a forum where the family can sit together and have discussions of what causes the stress and come up with a coping mechanism in unison. Through open communication with the family, I would get the chance to explain the condition to them in detail, and this will enhance their involvement with the patient. Besides, I would be offering a ground where the family can challenge their present beliefs about their situation, and create an alternative and positive view of the case.