The authors describe their observations of three trends in the nursing of families: namely, increased diversity in nursing practice; increased research; and increased family content in academic settings. These trends have major implications for nursing practice, research and education. The authors speculate on the implications and their effect on the families for whom nurses care.
Time is of the essence in nursing practice. Major changes in health care delivery, budgetary constraints, and staff cutbacks have required new ideas for involving families. Rather than excluding family members from health care, more efficient ways need to be determined of how to conduct brief family interviews. This article proposes that a 15-minute (or less) family interview with appropriate knowledge and skills can respond to this important aspect of nursing care. Suggestions are made for facilitating beliefs that need to be embraced for involving families in health care. Essential knowledge of sound family assessment and intervention models, interviewing skills, and questions are given. Identification and discussion of the five key ingredients for brief family interviews are offered. These are: manners, therapeutic conversation, family genogram, therapeutic questions, and commendations. This article cites two clinical examples that highlight the effectiveness and potential for healing in brief family interviews, whether in 15 minutes or in one sentence.
This article defines and describes the Calgary Family Intervention Model (CFIM). CFIM is an organizing framework conceptualizing the intersect between a particular domain (i.e., cognitive, affective, or behavioral) of family functioning and a specific intervention offered by a health professional. Examples and discussion of interventions such as storying the illness experience, encouraging respite, and asking interventive questions are presented. CFIM is one way that health professionals can conceptualize about change.
Five core assumptions relating to the family-nurse relationship are presented. Nurses and families each bring strengths and resources to the relationship and have specialized expertise in maintaining health and managing health problems. Reciprocity in the relationship is emphasized, with the relationship characterized as nonhierarchical. Feedback processes are described as they simultaneously occur at several different relationship levels among nursesfamilies, and other systems. Clinical implications of the five core assumptions are discussed. Questions are provided for the nurse to use when reflecting on her own relationship with thefamily and when interviewing the family about her relationship with them.
Health care systems worldwide are faced with the challenge of improving the quality of care, closing the knowledge-to-practice gap, and identifying the facilitators in these processes. Knowledge translation that promotes circularity between knowledge and practice is often overlooked. Knowledge transfer and translation are defined and briefly discussed in this article. Examples of knowledge translation in family nursing are provided, including knowledge creation research in pediatrics and adult pulmonary health at a University Hospital in Iceland. A second example focuses on the application of knowledge in mental health urgent care in a community health center in Calgary, Canada. Improving and speeding the circularity between knowledge translation and clinical practice reaps benefits for patients, families, health care providers, and the health care system. Conclusions about facilitating the implementation of family nursing knowledge into clinical practice are offered. The circularity between knowledge translation and practice is emphasized.
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