assist family members and the patient in mastering self-care. CFAM consists of three major categories; structural, developmental and functional. The structural category of assessment focuses on identifying the important family structures and relationships that will help or hinder the care process. The development elements of the assessment identify development (stages of family life cycle, and so forth) needs and issues likely to impact upon car and recovery, while the functional elements of the assessment identify the functional capacities of the family and its subsystems. Taken together, these categories and their subcategories provide a wealth of information that can be used effectively by nurses in developing targeted interventions of all types, including educational efforts as well as direct care for patients and supportive care for family members (Wright &d Leahey, 2000).
Analysis of Current Practice Environment
Walizer (1996) offered an overview of family perspectives on the nurturing role of nurses who are characterized as uniquely positioned to nurture both patients and their families in the course of their duties. Writing primarily about pediatric patients, Walizer (1996) identified key nursing roles in this regard as inclusive of: caregiver, educator, trainer, supporter, interpreter, model, and mentor. Creative caregivers are those who recognize the needs of both the patient and the family support system surrounding the patient. In the case of pediatric surgical patients, this nurse analyst argues that the more precise and thorough the training and education received by parents, the more prepared they will feel for the transition to the home environment. Thee key nursing roles are synergistic with roles described by Wright and Leahey (2000) with respect to the use of the CFAM.
A brief discussion in Patient Education Management (The four principles ofà, 2003) identified four key principles of family-ce...