The family as the unit of service has received increasing
emphasis in nursing over the years. Today, family
nursing has an important place in nursing practice,
particularly in community health nursing. The community
health nurse is reviewing with the student nurses the
key concepts about the theoretical basis for family
health. The students are being asked questions about
family characteristics and the stages of the family life
cycle.
1. What are the five universal family characteristics
that community health nurses must recognize and
consider in their practice?
2. What are five attributes of families as social
systems that help explain how families function?
3. The community health nurse is sitting in a living
room talking with a young mother about her new
infant. Which stage in the family life cycle is this
young mother with a new infant in?
4. What are the six basic functions of a family?