Faqs W Ans (Potts 03FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions

You are working at a pediatric clinic in an inner-city location. You have chosen family-centered care as your driving philosophy because you believe it to promote greater family self-determination, decision-making capabilities, and self-efficacy. A principle of family-centered care is the policy and consideration that family is the constant in a child’s life. What is a family?

The family is a basic social unit, but it has changed and become increasingly more diverse in nature over time. The legal definition of family emphasizes relationships through blood ties, adoption, guardianship, or marriage. The family might be defined as a group of people living together or a group with strong emotional ties. Asking clients whom they consider to be their family would be important when family-centered care is chosen as a working philosophy.

You are working in the community school system. Part of your job will sometimes require completing a family assessment. What is the benefit of using a family assessment tool in caring for families in the community setting?

If a nurse identifies a family at risk for dysfunction, completing a family assessment may help the nurse identify needed education, resources, and support, and it can assist the nurse to generate nursing diagnoses, goals, interventions, and evaluation strategies in collaboration with the child and family.

You have just begun to work in a large school system as the school nurse for 500 children. The school environment has changed over the last 3 years, with the population changing from mostly white, middle-income families, to a large number of Hispanic, Laotian, and Croatian families that are mostly in the low-income bracket. Why is it important to develop a sense of cultural sensitivity while in this role?

Developing a sense of cultural sensitivity is important to be able to respond accurately and sensitively to client needs. Each culture has its own values, attitudes, and practices with regard to health care and child care. Acknowledging these differences will be important when providing health teaching regarding nutrition, safety, illness prevention, and health promotion. Because of cultural differences, the health care “gatekeeper” may be the grandparent or another respected elder whom the family may rely on for help and direction. Failing to include these important persons may prevent families and children from learning and practicing health-promoting activities.

As part of your role as school nurse, you have been asked to give a presentation on parenting. What are some key points you will need to consider in developing your presentation?

It is important to remember that parenting is a continuously evolving process. This process changes as parents and children mature and grow in their relationships and experiences. Parenting fulfills certain tasks designed to support the child’s development and to maintain family functioning. A key idea to consider is that parents or caregivers will be responding to children who have unique temperaments and personalities. Parents usually respond using one of four parenting styles: (1) authoritarian or autocratic, (2) authoritative or democratic, (3) indulgent or permissive, and (4) indifferent or uninvolved. As you make your presentation, be prepared to give examples of these styles and how they may promote or detract from the child’s process of being socialized, including key helps that parents may use to change their style if they so desire.

While you’re working in the school health clinic, a 15-year-old young girl comes to you and asks about the risks associated with being pregnant and being a teenager. What will you tell her?

There are two areas of risk for teen pregnancy—medical and psychosocial. Medical risks include low birth weight and neonatal death, poor maternal weight gain, pregnancy-induced hypertension, sexually transmitted diseases, anemia, and premature births. Failure to complete school, poverty, limited vocational opportunities, nonnutritive parenting skills, repeat pregnancies, and separation from the child’s father and peers are many of the psychosocial problems experienced. There are a few things that can help improve outcomes for adolescent mothers. These include completion of high school, active participation in programs for pregnant teens (may include school activities), family support, improved social contact, and assistance for the teen to gain a sense of control over her own life.