A Patient / Family Care Study on Gastroenteritis

Abstract

The word nursing derives its meaning form the Latin word “nutricus” which means nourishing. Many people believed that Nursing started with Florence Nightingale, however nursing dates back to the beginning of motherhood when nurses were traditionally female. The history of nursing has its origin in the care of infants and children, so all mothers were nurses.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 Based on the current trend in modern nursing, it is of importance that every final year student undertakes a patient and family care study.The Patient/Family Care Study is a detailed written report of nursing care rendered to an individual and his or her family within a specific period of time. It explores nursing care rendered from the time of admission to termination of nurse-patient/family relationship. It gives an in-depth description and explanation of how a patient’s response to a specified disease condition is diagnosed and given intervention. The Patient/Family Care Study involves a record of nursing care, documenting the problems of the patient and how they are dealt with by the nurse and other healthcare members. It provides a systematic way of collecting data, analyzing information and reporting the results of nursing care. This Patient/Family Care Study is based on the concept of holistic care, taking into account all factors impinging on the health of the individual. It is done using the nursing process approach. Nursing process is the deliberate problem-solving tool that nurses employ to resolve actual and prevent potential patient/family health problems. Its common components are assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. For the purpose of confidentiality, the initials of patient and family will be used throughout the care study. This care study was carried out as a partial fulfilment for the award of professional license by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana. It is an integral part of the curriculum for educating nursing students hence a prerequisite for completing the nursing program. It helps the nursing student gain opportunity to combine classroom academic work with clinical study of the practices of the nursing profession. It encourages learning by doing, developing of analytical and decision-making skills as well as reporting skills