NRS72001 Nursing and Lifespan Health Online Tutoring

INTRODUCTION:

The role of family is very important in the life of every individual because it is a type of relationship that provides support and love to all the members of the family. This case study specifically highlights about the life of a family that has 5 members including Tammy (mother), Oscar (Son), Scott (Step father of Oscar), Jack and Mia (Siblings from Scott, Step father). They are also expecting a new addition in their family. Each member of this family has adjusted to this new situation after the marriage of Tammy with the Scott. Son of Tammy had faced some issues initially which has resulted in the declining of his grades in the school as well as changes in his behavior. The Children of Scott had also faced some challenges initially but later they get adjusted to this family. Due to accident, Scott is unable to work but still he works by recycling the products at home and sell them into the market. Tammy works as a school teacher and manages the budget of the whole family. Each member of the family has now adjusted with each other and they enjoy their company. This report basically throws light on the various phases of change in the life of each individual and view of this change from the perspective of different theorists who have conducted various researches on the behaviors and developmental stages of human.

 

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PART A:

Several theorists have worked on the stages of development of the family members. Among them work of Duvall and Miller, Carter and McGoldrick holds special place in the formation of theories of development. The theory of Duvall consisted of 8 stages of development with an addition of some stages from the theory of Carter and McGoldrick (Clingempeel & Henggeler. 2010). According to the Theory of Carter and McGoldrick, Tammy and Scott lies in the 2nd developmental stage of the remarried family foundation in which they have accepted the children of their spouses and have formed a step family by accepting the multiple roles they have to play in the formulation of a successful family relationship. Their first child Oscar (10 years old), lies in the Forth developmental stage of the Duvall who is school going, lies between the ages of 6 – 13 years. Their remaining two children falls under the category of third developmental stage of Duvall’s developmental theory. According to the developmental theorist McGoldrick, an outline has been given about the formation of a remarried family highlighting the pre requisite attitudes as well as the issues of development. The process of remarriage involves several fears related to the investment in the new relationship and family, dealing with the behavioral issues of the children, fear of the family extension and worrying about the adjustment with the new family relationships (Gavazzi, S. M. 2011). This family of 5 individuals have faced the same issues as highlighted by the theorist, after the remarriage of Tammy and Scott, Oscar has suffered initially as he is 10 years old and has the knowledge about the family relations therefore he faced issues initially, two other Jack and Mia being the younger are not much aware about the situation so, they have managed to the situation. The step father and his children has successfully adjusted with the new family members and the Tammy and Oscar has also adopted themselves to this new family. They have arranged a special family time for each other in which they discuss about the happenings of the day and discuss about the new member of the family that they are expecting. Tammy and Scott have managed the financial situation by working with mutual understanding. Tammy manage the finances by working as a school teacher in the local primary school and Scott work by making several products from recycling of timber and by selling them into the markets. According to the theorist, the relation of step parent and step child has been considered as most stressful and problematic relation that requires great affection and bonding. This family has successfully adopted to this step relation by greatly and efficiently working on it (Walsh & McGoldrick. 2013).

 

PART B:

            According to the theory of Duvall and Miller, this family of 5 has been considered in the developmental stage of Four in which he has described the family having school going children. This stage starts when the children of the family starts going to school and it ends after the age of thirteen years. At the end of this stage, it has been observed that majority of families reach their maximal number of members and relationships. Every member of family is working on the tasks of development as a whole. The parents are also struggling for fulfilling the demands of their children and are greatly concerned about the growth and development of their children. In addition, the parents are also working on the developmental learning of the children. These are the years that require focus on the family time and activities as well as preparing the children to separate from their families for the time of adolescence. This period also exerts intense pressure on the parents from the community about the community standards for the children.

 

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS:

            Developmental tasks are considered as those tasks that are necessary to perform in a particular period of life. Inability to carry out these tasks results in the fixation of events during that period (Shahaeian, A., et al. 2014). Developmental tasks during this stage of development includes

  • The socialization of the children which includes promotion of the achievements of the school and nurturing of the healthy relationship of the children with their peers. In reference to this case study it is important for the Tammy and Scott to socialize their children and encourage them on their achievements. They have socialized their children and appreciate them for the chores they perform and reward them with the money.
  • Maintenance of a satisfactory marital relationship for portraying a positive environment in front of the children. Tammy and Scott have maintained a perfect marital relationship and they extract time from their tasks and spend with their children.
  • Maintenance of the health of all the family members. The individuals of this family are financially stable and therefore they have good health condition and have maintained a good physical health.

It is important for the parents to play their role in the management of the critical tasks. In addition, it is crucial to promote open communication with the family members and supporting relationship with the spouse for the vital functioning of a school aged family (Walsh, F. 2016).

 

HEALTH CARE CONCERNS:

            Health care concerns exist at every level of developmental stage. There are various health care related concerns during this stage.

  • Several challenges related to health faced by children during this stage including the problems in speech, hearing and vision.
  • Dental health is also a major concern during this stage, as this is the stage at which a child learns to do proper dental care.
  • Abusing and neglecting of child has become a major issue in the society now a days.
  • Substance abuse is another major health concern.
  • Several diseases exist that are communicable, therefore it is important to work on the hygiene of the child in order to protect the child from viral diseases.

            It has been considered that during this period of time, Children’s handicap may become highlighted. This handicap can be physical as well as behavioral. In this case study, as the members of the family are knotted together by a remarriage therefore, in this type there are chances of behavioral disturbances which can affect their speech and thinking capacity. In such situations health educator and the counsellor plays an important role for the management of the behavioral disturbances. In addition, several other mental issues leading to mental retardation and orthopedic conditions can also occur, in such situations family health care nurse plays an important role who actively involves the parents of the child with behavioral problems and provide supportive counselling. This type of counselling is important because the involvement of family helps in the resolution of the behavioral problems (Cowden & Cummings. 2012).

 

RESILIENCE:

            Resilience has been considered as the capacity of the family to recover from the difficult and tough situations occurred during any part of life. In this case study each member of the family has gone through tough situations (Huber, C. H., et al. 2010). Scott and his children have faced issues after the break up of his first marriage. Tammy has also faced issues. After the marriage of Tammy and Scott, Oscar has faced issues of adjustment with the new family due to which he become behaviorally unstable. But after some time, they all get adjusted to the new family and starts enjoying each other’s company (Walsh, F. 2016).

 

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE:

            Looking towards the nursing in a broad way, the work of nurse not only includes the interventions but it also includes the assessment, diagnosis and planning (Little, C. V. 2013). They also have the responsibility to know about the possible side effects of the drugs as well as about different conditions in order to make an effective diagnosis. In this case study, the responsibility of a family health nurse is to tackle with the behavioral problem of the child and to counsel the child as much as in her own hands. Such counselling also requires the active participation of the parents in order to resolve the matter with full understanding (Rice, V. H. 2011).

 

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CONCLUSION:

            This report has highlighted the various phases of change in the life of each individual and view of this change from the perspective of different theorists who have conducted various researches on the behaviors and developmental stages of human. According to the Theory of Carter and McGoldrick, Tammy and Scott lies in the 2nd developmental stage of the remarried family foundation in which they have accepted the children of their spouses and have formed a step family by accepting the multiple roles they have to play in the formulation of a successful family relationship. The process of remarriage involves several fears related to the investment in the new relationship and family, dealing with the behavioral issues of the children, fear of the family extension and worrying about the adjustment with the new family relationships. This family of 5 individuals have faced the same issues as highlighted by the theorist, after the remarriage of Tammy and Scott, Oscar has suffered initially as he is 10 years old and has the knowledge about the family relations therefore he faced issues initially, two other Jack and Mia being the younger are not much aware about the situation so, they have managed to the situation. The step father and his children has successfully adjusted with the new family members and the Tammy and Scott has also adopted themselves to this new family. They have arranged a special family time for each other in which they discuss about the happenings of the day and discuss about the new member of the family that they are expecting. PART B: According to the theory of Duvall and Miller, this family of 5 has been considered in the developmental stage of Four in which he has described the family having school going children.

 

REFERENCES:

Clingempeel, W. G., & Henggeler, S. W. (2010). Family Development, Theories of. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1-3.

Cowden, T. L., & Cummings, G. G. (2012). Nursing theory and concept development: a theoretical model of clinical nurses’ intentions to stay in their current positions. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(7), 1646-1657.

Gavazzi, S. M. (2011). Family Development Theory. In Families with Adolescents (pp. 25-32). Springer, New York, NY.

Huber, C. H., Navarro, R. L., Womble, M. W., & Mumme, F. L. (2010). Family resilience and midlife marital satisfaction. The Family Journal, 18(2), 136-145.

Little, C. V. (2013). Integrative health care: implications for nursing practice and education. British Journal of Nursing, 22(20), 1160-1164.

Rice, V. H. (Ed.). (2011). Handbook of stress, coping, and health: Implications for nursing research, theory, and practice. Sage Publications.

Shahaeian, A., Nielsen, M., Peterson, C. C., & Slaughter, V. (2014). Cultural and family influences on children’s theory of mind development: A comparison of Australian and Iranian school-age children. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(4), 555-568.

Walsh, F. (2016). A family developmental framework: Challenges and resilience across the life cycle.

Walsh, F., & McGoldrick, M. (2013). Bereavement: A family life cycle perspective. Family Science, 4(1), 20-27.

Walsh, F. (2016). Family transitions: Challenges and resilience.

 

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