A Patient/Family Care Study on Haemolytic Anaemia Secondary to Severe Malaria

Abstract

Nursing care has broadened from care of the sick to care of the people (both in sickness and health), and also extend to the patient’s family and community at large in all aspects. During the 19th and 20th centuries however, nursing developed as there were many wars, arousal of social consciousness and increased educational opportunities offered to women and the enormous role played by Florence Nightingale that cannot be over emphasized. The training of nurses in diploma program, licensing of nurses, specialization of hospitals and diagnosis, development of baccalaureate and advance degree programs and scientific and technological development as well as social changes marked this period. More than ever, today’s nurses need to think critically, creatively, and compassionately to reach out to all. The critical thinking appreciation is achieved through the use of the nursing process. The nursing process is a series of organized steps designed for nurses to provide excellent care; it is also a scientific method used by nurses to ensure the quality of patient care. This approach can be broken down into five separate steps namely; assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation. Patient/Family care study (which uses the nursing process approach) is a detailed account of nursing care rendered to a patient/ family within a specific period of time. The interaction between the patient /family, the community and the health team is involved in the planning and implementation of the care given to the patient to meet his or her physiological, spiritual, psychological and socio-economic needs. The patient/family care study helps student nurses to identify patient and family problems so as to be able to formulate appropriate interventions. This enables the student nurse to look into the disease condition to be able to put to use the theoretical knowledge and practical skills acquired during training to provide holistic nursing care including health education to the patient and family. Finally, the patient and family care study is part of the final assessment of the student nurse by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana, for the award of license to practice as a professional registered general nurse. To ensure confidentiality, patient’s initials have been used instead of her name.