Aim: The aim of this written assessment item is to consider the nursing assessment of a family and plan evidenced based care. When an infant, young child or adolescent experiences a health or social...

Aim: The aim of this written assessment item is to consider the nursing assessment of a family and plan evidenced based care. When an infant, young child or adolescent experiences a health or social issue, the issue can impact upon all family members. Nurses working in acute care and community settings need to understand the functioning of the family unit so they can care for and assist the whole family. There are several family assessment tools that may be used by nurses to perform a family assessment, and it is important to understand the strengths and the limitations of any tool you use in clinical practice to provide a family-centred and partnership approach to your nursing care. This written assignment addresses course learning outcomes 2, 3, 4 and 5. Instructions: This written assignment has three distinct parts that you should address separately (as three distinct pieces of writing). You do not need to provide an introduction or a conclusion for any of these parts. Part One: Justification of Family Assessment (approx. 300 words) • Briefly describes family assessment and explains why it is important for a nurse to undertake a family assessment (the potential benefits of conducting a family assessment). • Use at least two scholarly references (from separate sources) to support this part. Part Two: The Nursing Assessment of a Family (approx. 500 words) • There are two family scenarios on the following pages for you to choose from; select one. • Select one of the family assessment tools we have explored in this course. Demonstrate an understanding of the selected family assessment tool by using it to assess your selected family. You may include a diagram as an Appendix. • Identify the strengths of the assessment tool (tasks or actions that it does well) and the limitations of the assessment tool (its weaknesses, what it does not ‘capture’ or assess well). Note that these are the strengths and weakness of the tool, not the family you are assessing. • Use at least two scholarly references (from separate sources) to support this part. 1 2978NRS Assignment Semester 2, 2016 Part Three: Identification and Discussion of Family Issues (approx. 1,200 words) • Identify two issues for the family or a member of the family, and research each issue. (These can be health, social, or developmental family issues e.g. breastfeeding, fly-in fly-out families, transition to parenting; they do not need to be ‘medical’ issues). • For each issue (write them each as a separate issue e.g. approx. 600 words per issue): o Provide a nursing goal1 to address the issue you have identified. o Use appropriate evidence to discuss what is known about the issue and explain why the goal is relevant to the issue. • Use at least six scholarly references (from separate sources) to support this part. Other elements: • Refer to the School of Nursing & Midwifery Writing and Referencing Guide for guidance on writing, and referencing according to APA 6th style and presentation. • Ensure that you use scholarly literature2 (digitised readings, research articles, relevant Government reports and text books) that has been published within the last 10 years. If you use literature older than 10 years, you will need to justify why you are not using recent literature, i.e. seminal3 research. Please note it is preferable to locate and use Australian data if you are describing the extent or magnitude of the issue. • Use headings to identify each part of the written assessment. (It is recommended that you use the headings suggested in the instructions for parts one, two and three). • Use academic language4 throughout and write in the third person. • Refer to the marking guidelines when writing your assignment. This will assist you in calculating the weightings of the sections for your assignment. • State your word count (excluding your reference list) on the Assignment Coversheet. • Maintain academic integrity • Submit your assignment via Turnitin as per the instructions on your Learning@Griffith course site. [Submit in the ‘Assessment’ tab].