A Client/Family Centered Nursing Care Study on Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

The scope of nursing keeps changing with each passing day. The word nursing derives its meaning form the latin word “nutricus” which means nourishing. According to the Henderson (1960), nursing is defined as the unique function of the nurse, is to assist the individual either sick or well in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery or peaceful death that he or she would have performed unaided if he or she has the necessary strength, will or knowledge. Many people believed that Nursing started with Florence Nightingale, however nursing itself dates back to the beginning of motherhood when nurses were traditionally female. The history of nursing has its The history of nursing first started to become more continuous and defined with Christianity when Christians cared for the sick, fed the hungry and buried the dead. Therefore, it was said that the history of nursing is tied to the church. When it became apparent that love and nurturing alone were not enough to cure disease, the need for a more educated frame work for nurses began to form. As a result of this, Florence nightingale in 1860, fulfilled her dream concerning nursing by establishing the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. It was the first formal, fully organized training program for nurses. In this 21st century, many nursing schools have been established to help build on the previous skills and experiences that were acquired through long years of housekeeping, assisting in child bearing and care of formal sick relatives. In the olden days, nursing practice was based on intuitions, observations and experiences and was focused towards diseases and illness. Today, however, there is increasing recognition of people’s need for health care. This has placed nursing at a level where much emphasis is placed on research and the use of scientific data at the bedside. The patient family care study entails rendering nursing care to a patient and his/her family. It involves the interaction between the patient/family and health team with a specified time frame until patient’s care is terminated. The study is based on the nursing process which has the assessment, analysis, planning, implementation and evaluation to be its components which follows a systematic method and it works consistently. The study forms part of the academic requirement on obtaining the Registered General Nursing Certificate awarded by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana. For confidentiality sake patient’s name will be in initials. The study is designed to enable the student nurse to practically apply the nursing process in the care of the patient and apply the knowledge acquired in medicine, surgery, pharmacology, basic nursing, anatomy and all other field of health in the care of the patient. It helps broadens the knowledge of the student nurse in terms of a particular disease condition and its management, and build the confidence of the student nurse in the discharge of his/her duties. Finally, it builds a good cordial relationship between the nurse and patient /family as well as other members of the health team.