Family-Nurse Relationships: Core Assumptions and Clinical Implications

Abstract

Five core assumptions relating to the family-nurse relationship are presented. Nurses and families each bring strengths and resources to the relationship and have specialized expertise in maintaining health and managing health problems. Reciprocity in the relationship is emphasized, with the relationship characterized as nonhierarchical. Feedback processes are described as they simultaneously occur at several different relationship levels among nursesfamilies, and other systems. Clinical implications of the five core assumptions are discussed. Questions are provided for the nurse to use when reflecting on her own relationship with thefamily and when interviewing the family about her relationship with them.

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