Course Description
Using the Douglas College Psychiatric Nursing Conceptual Framework, students will be introduced to family nursing and the impact of health and illness on all family members, including family structure, function, and process. Students will explore theory and principles of psychiatric nursing care with families, and recognize family nursing care models, assessment techniques, and variables that influence families and family nursing. Various family nursing roles are highlighted including promoting health and wellness, preventing illness risk, and managing both episodic and chronic health challenges. The student will apply a holistic approach to recognizing the uniqueness of every family system.
Course Content
Course Content includes:
- Introduction to family healthcare nursing
- Exploring the impact of family demographic shifts within Canada
- Identification of theoretical foundations of family nursing process
- Significant contributions of the major family nursing assessment models
- Family social policy and culturally sensitive nursing care of Canadian families
- Nursing care of LGBTQ families including the unique needs of families with gender nonconforming family members
- Family mental health nursing care including both episodic and chronic mental health illness implications
- An exploration of the needs of families living with chronic illness
- Supporting family health in mid and later life
- Families with Palliative and end-of-life care needs
- Nursing care of families with trauma
Learning Activities
Students will acquire knowledge and skill and learn to apply these concepts through a variety of instruction and activities, including: textbook readings, articles, A/V sources, case studies, online discussions, critical thinking exercises, and assignments.
Means of Assessment
The course evaluation is consistent with Douglas College Evaluation policy. An evaluation schedule is presented at the beginning of the course. This is a graded course.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, successful students will be able to:
- Define family nursing care practices
- Identify and describe family nursing care theoretical foundations and major models
- Recognize and discuss changing family demographic within Canada and impact on healthcare
- Evaluate and consider the impact of both provincial and national legislation and policy in providing nursing care to families
- Identify, discuss, and implement careplanning using principles of family nursing assessment and interventions
- Identify and discuss family health promotion
- Consider the individual and holistic needs of diverse families across the health continuum and lifespan
Textbook Materials
A list of required textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of each semester. Additional resources are provided within the online course.