Ethical issues are examined, and students participate in a group throughout the semester and have opportunities for group leadership. Students use various methods to critically analyze the group structure, process, membership roles, and communication. Students are expected to use problem-solving skills and mutual decision making with the family to determine nursing diagnoses and family goals. They also review and use findings in family and nursing research to support their interventions, and they evaluate outcomes of their primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measure. In the roles of family advocate and change agent, students collaborate with other health professionals to assist families in meeting their health goals and benefiting from the health care delivery system.
Students use innovative teaching strategies for small group presentations.
The course also enables students to identify nursing problems related to the family system for possible investigation. Students focus on the use of nursing process in working with common mental health problems associated with aging. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in individual, group, and family systems are discussed. An introduction to mental status assessment is included. Open to nursing majors, and to non-nursing majors with departmental approval.