Family Systems Theory and Phenomenological Research: A Family Unit's ICU Experience

Many people have many different definitions of a family. Some include family as the people they live with, some include their entire extended family, and some include friends, neighbors, coaches, and teachers. According to the Vanier Institute (2013), a family is “a combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, and/or adoption” (para. 2). Whichever way you look at it, families often play a major role in life. It only makes sense that when a person begins to go through a drastic change in life such as illness, the family will be involved. This is why it is important that nurses learn how to provide suitable client and family centered care. They can do this by following the four

Including the client as an expert member of the team creates an enhanced quality of care (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). In pediatrics, parents are often at the center of the child’s care. When asked to define what made the client care experience positive, parents stated that sensitivity, empathy and honesty were key factors (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). Working in healthcare, nurses can become desensitized to difficult experiences because they deal with them daily. Integrating the client and family as part of the healthcare team, allows the nurse to see the patient and family as a people first. By avoiding using illness as context, and instead using person as context, care will be more holistic (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). A family-focused approach helps to ensure that the whole family feels a part of the experience and is valued. In the case of bereavement, family centered care is particularly important. If the family is not included in the care from the start, it can provide barriers for grieving and impact how the family deals with loss (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). Nurses have an opportunity to help support the family through the grief process (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). Families have a significant impact on how the client heals, so by caring for the family’s needs, the nurse is indirectly caring for the patient. It is in the client’s best interest for the care to be holistic for the patient as well as the family (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). All

Helpful in times of stress, such as acute or long-term illness, nursing can engage the family in focusing on their

Discuss the nursing interventions to be utilized with a family member who is in crisis in the care setting and interfering with the healthcare team’s performance.

They often give and take the main decision which may influence the wellbeing of their family. The family remains a great support for each other. In case of the hospitalization of one of the members, the family will powerfully assist the medical personnel providing them with necessary information. Moreover, the family will help to take care of the patient. Of course, each family is an individual structure.

The aim of the study was to explore family members’ experiences with the use of a diary when a sick relative did not survive the stay in the ICU. The overall study findings revealed that the diary was experienced as a medium for interpersonal communication, where it was perceived as a social medium maintaining communication and the relationship with the patient. But the diary was also a common interest affecting writers and readers in different ways, thus sharing information, emotions and thoughts enabled relationships, which grew. Not only relationships developed but also participants as humans due to the course of events and finally the death of the patient. The experience was compared to taken on a journey but in an existential way by the participants. To understand the unfamiliar in a way different from the way in which it has been understood so far, also include a way to understand him/herself in a new way (Gadamer, 1989).

The family structure is made up of individuals living together in intimate groups with the purpose of caring and supporting each other. Rules and boundaries, spoken and unspoken, are developed by the family members. Family rules and boundaries change and shift over time in order to evolve and grow as a family unit. Some changes are subtle, but some events force major change within the family system. This paper applies the concepts of systems theory to the family system in the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Reese Witherspoon (Melanie Smooter) and Josh Lucas (Jake Perry) star in this heart-warming film telling a story of a young woman who flees from Alabama to reinvent herself in New York City as a high fashion designer. She leaves behind

The objective of this case study, qualitative research article is to examine families’ perception of bedside shift-to-shift handover. Themes that were focused on included the family interaction with staff, finding value in bedside reporting, and family understanding of the condition and treatment of the patient with regards to the information during report. The study took place in Australia with 8 family members on a rehabilitation ward. Researchers used observation, field notes and in-depth interviews to report their findings. Observations were done prior to interviews. Observations of families’ interactions occurred in the context of bedside handover. The interviews were taped and in-depth which participants were encouraged to relay

The purpose of the study article I chose, "Enhancing Caregiver Outcomes in Palliative Care," by McCorkle and Pasacreta (McCorkle, 2015) was twofold. The first was to define the negative experiences of untrained family members that care for a chronically ill patient and, second, intervene with a nursing care plan designed to prepare the caregiver for the consequences of those experiences. The statement of purpose is, "Families are increasingly replacing skilled health care workers in the delivery of unfamiliar complex care to their relatives with cancer, despite other obligations and responsibilities that characterize their lives" (McCorkle & Pasacreta, 2001).

However, often the nurse will find herself dealing with difficult family dynamics with family members having differing expectations of the type of care that the patient should be receiving, staff conflict over treatment methods or strategies and high workloads. These issues can only compound the stresses on the Palliative Care Nurse and to cope

It is crucial to acknowledge the role patients’ families play in providing support, assistance, and provisions to their ill members. Here, we have learned that family members may shape or foretell behaviors and help us gain a more holistic assessment of the individual patient. I will admit during the hustle and bustle of my shifts I am at times strictly patient focused. This class had not only taught me that sometimes I need to slow down and not only assess my patient and the disease but the family structure, culture, stress, priorities, which may support a long-term recovery. I have found myself always being culturally sensitive, but this class has taught me that partnering with patients’ family members can deliver holistic care to my

This article is based on a nursing perspective of family being present during resuscitation. “The study explored nurses’ experience with resuscitation, perceptions of the benefits and risk of having a patient’s family member present, and self confidence in having family presence at their workplace” (Tudor, Berger, Polivka, Chlebowy, & Thomas, 2014).

The first result described in part A which is related to the ICU patient has sub results . The first sub result which was invasive technology and physical condition of the ICU patient recognize as a challenge for participants, implies that these complicated patient is better to make their relatives leave. The second sub result was patient privacy also identified as a barrier, implies that if there is nothing exposed to the patients dignity, it will be fine to involve patient relatives. The third sub result was the ICU duration of stay mention as a barrier, implying that short-term ICU relatives will not known by critical care nurses very well and the relationship between them is weak.

Sue would have had even more difficulty if it had not been for the ongoing support from her family. This story illustrates how role of family in the critically ill patient is very important. A few health problems they encountered were lack of communication from doctors, nurses and physical therapists. Lack of bedside manners, knowledge of patient diagnosis. I can't imagine having the same experience as her. If I received this type of nursing care that Sue received I would not feel very good. Not only me if anyone were to receive this kind of treatment from healthcare professional none of them patient would have felt good about it. Thankfully I have never had this kind of experience nor my family had.

. Family systems theory is one of many theories that can be used to describe and analyze families. The family systems theory thinks of the family as a whole, not just as individuals. Individuals form a family system through their interaction and communication patterns. When something with an individual changes, it impacts the entire family. This theory emphasized interdependence among family members and says that problems should not be blamed on one individual, but should be looked at in terms of the family context. Individual components join together within a family system to form a whole. When a change occurs, the whole family must adapt to the new situation. This theory is a great way to look at families as a whole. There are seven descriptive features that define a family system which are: interdependence, wholeness, patterns/self-regulation, interactive complexity/punctuation, openness, complex relationships, and equifinality. Using these seven pieces, I will relate them to the family from Pieces of April and how that family uses or fails to use the features.