Interviewing families provides the nurse with information that can help the patient and their family manage chronic illness. By asking the family questions, the nurse can gain an increased understanding and appreciation of the illness impact on the family and the family’s concerns and hopefully help soften suffering and encourage hope and healing (Wright & Leahey, 2013). Following the conclusion of the interview, the nurse can assess the success of the interview and look for opportunities to improve the next family interaction. This is the fifth installment of the family assessment of two sisters, J.A. and R.C. This final paper will discuss the personal and professional impact that this family interview process had on the interviewer and discuss any opportunities that may have been conducted differently.
Personally Impact
Personally this family interview process affecting me in many ways. The family I interviewed is part of my own family, so from a very personal perspective I gained a lot of insight into my own family and their dynamics. I learned more about my family’s heritage and
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It is easy to bypass family interactions and focus solely on the patient, but nurses are missing a huge amount of information that is relevant to the continued care of the patient when they do not take into account the family structure, context and other important variables. The care of the person managing chronic illness rarely falls on just the individual afflicted and the nurse misses what is happening outside of the hospital that play a huge role in the patient’s care. Chronic illness is ongoing and the successful management of such an illness may have far reaching impacts on many other family members. To help ensure the best possibly continuation of care and support for the patient and the family, the nurse must find ways to interview, assess and involve the family factors in the patient’s