FAMILY HEALTH NURSING- that level of CHN practice directed to the FAMILY

as the unit of care with HEALTH as the goal and NURSING as the medium, channel
or provider of care.

Family Case Load - the no. and kind of families a nurse handles at any given
time.
-variable for cases are added or dropped based on the need for
nursing care and supervision.

Family - is defined by the US Census Bureau (2005) as ‘group of people related by

blood, marriage, or adoption, living together’.
- is defined by Allender and Spradley (2004) as ‘two or more people who live in the
same household (usually), share a common emotional bond, and perform certain
interrelated social tasks.
- a group of persons of common ancestry

Types of Families
1. Nuclear-is composed of a husband, wife and children and it is the most common
structure seen worldwide and throughout the history
2. Extended(multigenerational)- includes not only the nuclear family but also the
other family members such as grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins
and grandchildren
3. Three generational
4. Dyad-consists of two people living together, usually a woman and a man, without
children
5. Single- Parent-has the advantage of offering a child a special parent-child
relationship and increased opportunities for self-reliance and independence.
6. Step- Parent
7. Blended or reconstituted-a remarried or reconstituted family, a divorced or
widowed person with children marries someone who also has children
8. Single adult living alone
9. Cohabiting/ Living –in-are composed of heterosexual peoples who live together
like a nuclear family but remain unmarried.
10. No- kin
11. Compound
12. Gay or Lesbian-where individuals of same sex live together as partners for
companionship, financial security and sexual fulfillment
14. Communal-their relationship to each other is motivated by social or religious
values rather than kinship

Stages of Family Life Cycle

1. Newly married couple
2. Childbearing
3. Preschool age
4. Schoolage
5. Teenage
6. Launching
7. Middle-aged ( empty nest –retirement)
8. Period from retirement to Death of both spouses

HEALTH TASKS OF THE FAMILY( Freeman, 1981)

1. recognizing interruptions of health or development

2. seeking health care
3. managing health and non-health crises
4. providing nursing care to the sick, disabled and dependent member of the family
5. maintaining a home environment conducive to good health and personal
development
6. maintaining a reciprocal relationship with the community and health institutions

Family Nursing Problem-arises when the family cannot effectively perform its
health tasks.

Nurse’s Roles in Family Health Nursing

1. HEALTH MONITOR
2. PROVIDER OF CARE TO A SICK FAMILY MEMBER
3. COORDINATOR OF FAMILY SERVICES
4. FACILITATOR
5. TEACHER
6. COUNSELOR