NU 605 Concepts in Nursing Leadership Week 6 Discussion Cultural Competence and Practice Change NU 605 Concepts in Nursing Leadership Week 6 Discussion Cultural Competence and Practice Change How will cultural competence enhance your professional practice (your role upon graduation from your program of study)? Part 1
Family health assessment is essential in helping a nurse promote the heath of a specific family within a defined community. In most of the cases, the assessment focuses on the family structure, their health status and the social determiner of heath among other important facts (Dorell, Isaksson, Östlund, & Sundin, 2017). For instance, Martin is a 38-year-old African American man who recently married Angela, 34 years old. They live in Ocala City, in Marion County, Florida. They have only one child, Antony who is 12 years old. Both the parents are always busy during the week with Martin managing the family business downtown, while Angela is a kindergarten teacher. They are strong Christians, who have the norm of going to church every Sunday as a family. Based on their health record, Martins family seems to be pretty healthy with very minimal health complications.
Socio-Economic
Martin’s family is well organized with both parents contributing finances for their general upkeep. Every morning, Martin leaves the house very early to go and open the store as Angela is left behind to prepare Tony for school after which they will leave together. They are active members of the community especially when it comes to collective services. Being Christians, they believe in the art of helping the poor, and every month, they try to visit the homeless and provide them with food and clothing (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, & Robinson, 2018). Their son is part of the church junior choir and spends most of his weekends in church.
Environment
Martin’s family is a middle-income family that lives in a relatively friendly and safe environment. They own a three-bedroom house away from the city, which is quite comfortable given the size of the family. They have access to clean drinking water, and clean air with a properly maintained sewage system keeping the neighborhood free from toxins. The clean air and water have benefited the family from contracting water-borne diseases and airborne ailments such as asthma, cancer or cardiovascular complications (Peterson-Burch, 2018). The neighborhood also has good infrastructure in addition to easily accessible health care facilities, and schools among other recreational and social facilities.
Health Status
The family is generally healthy with minor health complications. Angela has always made sure to prepare a healthy balanced diet for dinner and breakfast when the family is together. She also prepares healthy foods for Antony to carry to school for lunch. Antony is, however, slightly overweight. Martin drinks occasionally and was recently diagnosed with gout, hence consumes meat very rarely. Also, Martin’s father has a history of hypertension, while his mother died recently from a road accident. Angela was asthmatic as a kid, but it was properly managed, and she is currently living a healthy life. Her mother is diabetic, while her father is struggling with hypertension. They, however, have a family nurse, who advises them on how to stay healthy, and conducts follow up screening and physical examination regularly (Thornton et al., 2016).
Health Promotion
The family is very keen when it comes to diet and physical activity to make sure that they all stay healthy at all cost. Martin plays basketball during weekends, and also runs every morning for about 30 minutes before going to work. Angela is an indoor mum, who rarely goes out unless it is necessary. She, however, runs sometime in the morning with Martin. On the other hand, Antony is quite active and plays basketball most of the time with his peers after school within the neighborhood. His diet is controlled to help manage his weight to prevent him from becoming obese (Virgini, Meindl-Fridez, Battegay, & Zimmerli, 2015). The family nurse also made sure that his vaccinations were up to date when he was still a kid.
Evaluation
Martin’s family is quite healthy with a warm and nurturing relationship among family members. They are very supportive of one another especially when it comes to healthcare complications. They have a family nurse and strongly believe in pharmacotherapy, rather than traditional medication. Together with the assistance of the family nurse, the family has always tried to adopt a healthy living, from both diet to physical exercise (Russell, Beckmeyer, & Su-Russell, 2018). They also reside in a friendly and safe neighborhood, free from toxins among other health hazards.
Nursing Care Plan
Given the past medical history of Martin’s family, it is important for the nurse to encourage a family-centered care model to make sure that the family is aware of all the diseases that they are predisposed to, and how to prevent