Although a nurse might think that by focusing on assessing the individual she will be able to gather all the data necessary to develop an appropriate plan of care this is not the case as through the involvement of the family the nurse might discover that there are other symptoms or issues that might have not been discovered or even addressed to that matter (Denham, Eggenberger, Young, & Krumwiede, 2015, …show more content…
(2015) genograms and ecomaps are tools that the nurse utilizes to gain a visual diagram to evaluate the family’s present situation and their family story, this enables the nurse to integrate a suitable family plan and select interventions that are tailored for the family’s needs. This also enables the healthcare provider to become more aware of cultural and spiritual aspects of the family (p.116).
The genogram must follow certain rules and symbols to enable everyone to gain the same understanding and not misinterpret information. It consists of a family tree, which includes family members of at least three generations, and includes information in regards to their relationship, and is organized into family systems by generation, age, sex, or other similar features. It also incorporates other pertinent information such as health status, comorbidities, obesity, mental health comorbidities, and history of smoking or substance abuse. This model is an important tool, as it can be used to evaluate the family’s history of psychosocial, physical, and mental illness, which are pertinent as family patterns can be repeated from one generation to the next. The use of this assessment tool can impact the family’s plan of care, as through this visual tool the nurse is able to gather a quick overview of the family’s complications and furthermore assess the family (Kaakinen, et al., 2015,