Shirley M. H. Hanson

Nurse-Family Interactions in Adult Critical Care: A Bowen Family Systems Perspective

Nursing research has described the self-reported needs of families of critical care patients; however, very little has been written about specific intervention and assessment strategies for families experiencing critical illness. The purpose of this article is to illustrate a process for analyzing nurse-family interactions in critical care settings and to suggest methods of improving family nursing in critical care based on Bowen’s family systems theory. Bowen’s family systems theory is described and a case study is presented and discussed to illustrate the application of the major concepts of Bowen’s family systems theory in analyzing family dynamics in critical care. In this article, Bowen’s family systems theory is expanded to encompass an analysis of the family-like nurse-to-nurse relationships that occur on nursing units. Specific recommendations are made for critical care nurses who wish to implement family-focused nursing care with a basis in Bowen’s family systems theory.

Family nursing: challenges and opportunities: whither thou goeth family nursing.

Family nursing in North America today is anemic, if not dying. I have been a family nurse for 45 years—even before we called it “family nursing.” I experienced family nursing emerge as a concept when it peaked in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those were good times for espousing family nursing. People in that movement were at the cutting edge of nursing. Curriculums were changed to incorporate formal coursework about families and nursing in both undergraduate and graduate programs. My own school even had a doctoral and postdoctoral program that focused on families and nursing. Presently, family nursing as a topic is nonexistent, minimized, or integrated away into medical and surgical, community health, and gerontology nursing courses. Family nursing is fading despite the fact that families continue to be our best resource for health care. Seventy-five percent of all people will become caregivers to family members before their 75th birthday. Four million Americans are car-

Fatherhood: Contextual Variations

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. Many ACF programs interact with and serve fathers in an effort to promote economic self-sufficiency and social well-being for them and their families. Across ACF, we are implementing rigorous research and evaluation projects to better understand how to serve them and their families.

Education for Family Health Care Professionals: Nursing as a Paradigm.

The traditional health care focus on individual clients is rapidly being replaced by the family as a unit of analysis for education, service, and research. Family nurses in particular are at the forefront of this important movement and their innovative experience can benefit other disciplines that work within the mental and physical health care delivery systems. This article describes two perspectives on current practices in family nursing education and explores critical imperatives for the future. These imperatives provide direction to educators and clinicians across family disciplines in planning for the next century of family-focused health care.