Study of The Area of Nursing Need by the Family Developmental Stage

Choi, Boo Ok

Abstract

The Community Health Service considers the family as a service unit and places the emphasis of its service on the health problems and the nursing needs of the family rather than the individual. From the conceptual point of view that the community health service is both health maintenance and health promotion of the family, the community health nurse should have a knowledge of the growth and development of the family and be responsible for the comprehensive support of normal family development. The community health nurse often is in a position to make a real contribution to normal family development. In order to investigate the relationship between the areas of nursing need and family development, the following objectives were established. 1. To discover the general characteristics of the study population by the stage of family development. 2 . To discover specific nursing needs in relation to the family developmental stage, and to determine the intensity of the nursing needs and the ability of the family to cope with these needs. 3 . To discover overall family health nursing problems in relation to the family developmental stage and determine the intensity of the nursing need and the problem solving ability of family. Definitions : The family developmental stages as classified by Duvall were used stage 1. Married couples (without children) stage 2. Childbearing Familes (oldest child birth to 30 months of age) stage 3. Families with preschool children (oldest child 2 1/2 to 6 years) stage 4. Families with schoolchildren (oldest child 6 to 13 years). stage 5. Families with teenagers (oldest child 13 to 20 years) stage 6. Families as launching centers (first child gone to last child's leaving home). stage 7. Middle aged parents (empty nest to retirement) stage 8. Aging family members (retirement to death of both spouses) The areas of nursing need were defined as those used in the study, "A Comprehensive Study about Health and Nursing Need and a Social Diagram of the Community," by the Nur sing research Institute and Center for population and Family Planning, July 1974. The study population defined and selected were 260 nuclear families in two myun of Kang Hwa Island. Percent, mean value and F- test were utilized in the statistical analysis of the study results. Findings : 1. General characteristics of the study population by the family developmental stage; 1 ) The study population was distributed by the family developmental stage as follows : stage 1 : 3 families stage 2 13 families stage 3 24 families stage 4 41 families stage 5 50 families stage 6 106 families stage 7 13 families stage 8 10 families 2) Most families had 4 or 5 members except for those in stage, 1, 7, and 8. 3) The parents' present age was older in the higher developmental stage and their age at marriage was also younger in the higher developmental stages. 4 ) The educational level of parents was primarily less than elementary school irrespective of the developmental stage. 5 ) More than half of parents' occupations were listed as laborers irrespective of the developmental stage. 6 ) More than half of the parents were athiests irrespective of the developmental stage. 7) The higher the developmental stage ( from stage 2 to stage 6), the wider the distribution of children' s ages. 8 ) More than half of the families were of middle or lower socio-economic level. 2- Problems in specific areas of nursing need by family developmental stage, the intensity of nursing need and the problem solving ability of the family : 1 ) As a whole, many problems, irrespective of the developmental stage, occurred in the areas of Housing and Sanitation, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping, Preventive Measures and Dental care. Problems occurring in particular stages included the following : stage 1 Prevention of Accident stage 2 Preventive Vaccination, Family Planning. stage 3 Preventive. Vaccination, Maternal Health, Family Planning, Health of Infant and Preschooler. stage 4,5 :Preventive Vaccination, Family Planning, Health of School Children. stage 6 ; Preventive Vaccination, Health of School Children. 2 ) The intensity of the nursing need in the area of Acute and Chronic Diseases was generally of moderate degree or above irrespective of the developmental stages except for stage 1 . Other areas of need listed as moderate or above were found in the following stages; stage 1 Maternal Health stage 3 Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, stage 4 Housing and Sanitation. stage 5 Housing and Sanitation, Diagnostic and Medical Care. stage 6 Diagnastic and Medical care stage 7 Diagnostic and Medical Care, Housekeeping. stage 8 Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Dental Care, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. 3 ) Areas of need with moderate problem solving abilty or less were as follows : stage 1 Diagnostic and Medical Care, Maternal Health. stage 2 Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Dibease, Dental Care. stage 3 Housing and Sanitation, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Maternal Health, Health of Infant and preschooler, Eating Patterns. stage 4 '. Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Maternal Health, Health of New Born, Health of Infant and Preschooler, Health of school Children, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. stage 5 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Preventive Vaccination, Maternal Health, Eating Patterns. stage 7,8 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measures, Dental Care, Preventive Vaccination, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. 3 . Problem oecuranee, the degree of nursing need and the degree of problem solving ability in nursing need areas for the family as a whole were as follows : 1) The higher the stages (except stage 1), the lower the rate of problem oecuranee. 2 ) The higher the stage becomes, the lower the intensity of the nursing need becomes. 3 ) The higher the stages (except stages 7 and 8), the higher the problem solving ability.Conclusions ; 1) When the nursing care plan for the family is drawn up, depending upon the stage of family development, higher priority should be give to nursing need areas (1) at which problems were shown to occur (2)where the nursing need is shown to be above moderate degree and (3)where the problem solving ability was shown to be of moderate degree. 2) The priority of the nursing service should be placed (1) not on those families in the high developmental stage but on those families in the low developmental stage (2) andon those area of nee show in stage 7 and 8 where the degree nursing need was high and the ability to cope low.

Study of The Area of Nursing Need by the Family Developmental Stage

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