Friedmans Family Assessment

A nursing assessment of a family is the basis of nursing interventions. Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) state, “By using a systematic process, family problem areas are identified and family strengths are emphasized as the building blocks for interventions and to facilitate family resiliency (p. 567).

The following paragraphs will describe a family that has become more typical in this day and age. The family consists of a mother, a father, a five year old daughter, and a three year old son. The family that was chosen was interviewed as a family, but also individually.Family Assessment This family consists of BAD, MLD, their daughter CED, and son LRD.

The family lives in a four bedroom brick house with their large sized dog, with two entrances, four steps to enter the front of their home, and a back door that you have to go thru a fence to get to. Their home is in a quiet neighbor hood with an elementary school a quarter of a mile down the road they live off of. Their daughter, CED, goes to this elementary school and is in the first grade. The family’s neighbors are all young couples who the neighbors across the street have two children ages 8 and 10.

Their mortgage is $1,100/month.They have city water and sewage. The heat is gas heat and they have a central air conditioning. Their house is kept clean and well maintained since BAD is unemployed at this time. Their young son LRD, who is three also stays home with BAD during the day because the family cannot afford daycare at this time. When you walk in the front entrance it is a split level home.

You can either go up four steps to the main level or go down four steps to the lower level. On the first level when you go up the stairs to the right is a living room which is hardwood floors and consists of a couch, love seat, and an oversized chair.There is no television in this room. Connected to the living room is their dining room which is also hardwood floors, and has a table that seats eight, and a tall cabinet that has dry foods and canned foods. Connected to the dining room is the kitchen. The kitchen has a small table and four chairs, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, and lots of counter, and cabinet space.

Out of the kitchen is the main hallway which is carpeted and leads to a full size bathroom and two bedrooms. The bathroom is decorated in monkeys which is the children’s bathroom.The bedroom on the left is the bedroom of CED, the 5 year old daughter, and the bedroom on the right is the bedroom of LRD, the 3 year old son. Back down the stairs is the lower level. When you first go downstairs you see and big open family room that has a couch and two lazy boy recliners. The downstairs is all carpeted.

To the immediate right is a second full bathroom and next to that is the master bedroom. Opposite the master bedroom is the fourth bedroom which was converted to a toy room for the children. The downstairs is where the family spends most of their time.There is a big screen television and their is a game station connected to the television. BAD has taken the time to child proof their home using child safety locks on all cabinets, and electrical outlet covers.

The children have a lot of toys, and it seems they do not have a lot of storage, yet their home is kept very tidy. The family does not interact much with their neighbors or community. BAD’s family lives in another state, and MLD’s family lives in another town about an hour away. MLD has a car that he drives to and from work, and BAD uses a van to take CED to school, and to run errands.MLD smokes cigarettes, but he steps outside when doing so to protect the children especially CED since she has asthma. He also does not smoke when in the car.

The family is not limited in food choices, they just do not seem to choose balanced meals when eating. The only income that they have is what MLD earns from his job and so the family chooses foods that are cheap and accessible, such as canned foods, frozen foods, and snack food such as chips and cookies. The only vegetables they had were canned vegetables.BAD does try to make a balanced dinner, but still uses frozen meals that are easier to prepare. BAD is a 29 year old caucasian female.

She is 64 inches and 225 pounds. Her hair is uncombed and unwashed. She stated that since losing her job, and being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, she does not feel the need to look presentable every day. She said when she does leave the house that she does do her hair and makeup. She is needing surgery to remove her thyroid, but the family has already used up their allotted insurance money for the year, so they are waiting until January to have the surgery.

MLD is 33 year old caucasian male. He is 68 inches and 195 pounds. He is well kept in appearance and has on slacks and a button down long sleeve shirt. He has just gotten off work.

He said he usually works overtime, 12 hour days, to make extra income for the family. MLD also takes night classes two nights a week and is working on getting a bachelors in business to advance at his company. The two children are CED, and LRD. CED is 5 years old and is in kindergarden. LRD is 3 and will start kindergarden when he is 6.

CED has childhood asthma, and has to have a breathing treatment every night before bed. She also has 2 rescue inhalers and has to take a pill every day. LRD is a healthy 3 year old boy with no diseases at this time. He has however had several issues with ear infections, and BAD said he might have to have tubes in his ears next year.

BAD enjoys taking care and playing with her daughter and son, CED, and LRD. She also enjoys listening to music, drawing, and watching movies. She is not very active, thus leading to her obesity.The family has recently gotten a video game, which is a dancing game and she says she has since lost 10 pounds. BAD does not like cleaning, and therefore MLD does so when he get’s home from work. BAD does the cooking and laundry.

BAD does not have a good sleep pattern and has admitted she has bouts of insomnia. She does not exercise regularly and does not take the children out often, and so the children are at risk for childhood obesity. When interviewed individually, BAD stated that she is unhappy with her current sexual activity and feels that it is because of her weight.Before their daughter was conceived and born, BAD said the couple was sexually active several times a week.

Since having both her children, she has gained over 80 pounds and cannot seem to get motivated to lose the weight. She stated that MLD does not make comments about her weight but does make comments that they are not as sexually active as before. She has had several illness since having children and believes that now she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, that her husband, MRD, is upset with her.She said she is willing to try a new diet and exercise routine in order to feel happier about herself, and states that this might make their sex life as it was before. When MLD was interviewed he stated that he is overwhelmed at work, and feels under a lot of pressure to be the sole provider for the family.

He also admitted that he wishes he could come home and the house be tidy, but he usually is the one to clean when he gets home from work. He is taking classes two nights a week, and mentioned that he might take some time off school to work even more at work.MLD stated that his wife’s weight does not bother him, he just wants her to be healthier, and wishes she would take the children out more often to get some fresh air and exercise. He hasn’t noticed any other problems with their relationship, but states he is scared of losing his wife with her new diagnosis. Family Structure/Functions This family is the typical family that consists of a married couple and their children. They have a five year old daughter and three year old son, and a 7 year old large dog.

BAD and MLD have the same expectations for their children in terms of importance of education.They both expect them to complete high school and attend college. They want them to do more with her life than they were able to do with theirs at this time. The family does not attend church and when the topic of religion was brought up they both wanted to change the subject matter. Communication seems to be an issue within this family with BAD feeling secluded due to her weight and MLD working long hours and overtime. BAD feels that MLD gets on her a lot, and therefore has just about stopped communicating with MLD.

BAD feels that she is always trying to talk to MLD about their relationship but he doesn’t want to talk about it. MLD feels there is nothing wrong with their relationship and therefore does not want to talk about it. He has stated that he does use sarcasm when talking with BAD because he is uncomfortable talking about their relationship when he doesn't feel anything is wrong. In times where decisions need to be made about the children or their household, BAD and MLD make the decisions together after first talking about the possible outcomes of each possible path. Family FunctionsAccording to Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) “The two primary functions of families in the twenty first century are relationship and health care functions” (p. 555).

This family is having problems in their relationship between mother and father and also with their health because BAD has been diagnosed with cancer, and CED has childhood asthma. Developmental Stages According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) Duvall’s Developmental Stages of the Family “are based on the age of the eldest child” (p. 560). This family would fit into Stage III, which is the family with a preschooler stage.BAD and MLD’s main focus in this stage is providing adequate housing, nutrition, activity, and safety for each person in the family, along with socialization of CED and LRD.

BAD and MLD need to focus on maintaining a healthy relationship between the two of them to promote a well balanced life for CED and LRD. They also need to accomplish forming a relationship with their community. Communities offer a lot of activities, companionship, and educational opportunities that would be very healthy for CED and LRD, and her parents.