The Jackson Family Assessment - Essay Example

? The Jackson Family Assessment Spring Structural The assessment application used is the Calgary Family Assessment Model Wright &Leahey (1994). Mr. Richard Jackson and Mrs. Janice Jackson is an elderly African-American couple in their early 60’s. The couple has been married for thirty years and has four children. Mark Jackson the oldest of the four is 41 years old. Mark currently lives out of state with his wife Angela and their two children. Mark Jr. is 10 years old and Shai is 8 years old. Caroline Jackson-Reyes is Mr. and Mrs. Jackson’s Daughter and second child. Caroline is 38 years old. She has a 15 year old daughter. Carol and her daughter lived alone until Carol’s recent marriage to Trey Reyes. Carol is a very successful Sales Manager and travels a lot with her company. Mrs. Janice Jackson and Carol have a very strong bond. Lenny is Mr. and Mrs. Jackson’s third child. Lenny Jackson is 33 years old married to Desiree and has one child, a son Marcus. Marcus is 9 years old. Shelldon Jackson is Mr. and Mrs. Jackson’s youngest child. Shelldon is 32 years old married to Leigha and together have a daughter 4 years of age. Lenny also has a son from a previous relationship. Lenny’s son Alex is 12 years of age. The Jackson family is extremely close. Mrs. Jackson is very involved in not only all of her children’s lives and activities but also those of her grandchildren. Mr. Jackson unfortunately is not allowed the same opportunity due to his rigorous work schedule. Mr. Jackson is a chef and has to be up early in the morning to be at work for 4 am. So when he gets home he usually sleeps a lot of the time. Mr. Jackson is there whenever he can be. The Jackson Family is and always has been very female influenced and dominated. “A Woman’s intuition never steers wrong” is there family motto. The males have always taken the role as the main providers of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson are very involved in their church community and scold their children when they are not. Mrs. Jackson was raised a strong Baptist believer. The children are not always able to be there because of work and busy schedules. Mrs. Jackson does not feel that is an appropriate excuse. There should always be time for God since He’s made time for you. The Jackson Family does manage to attend church together as a whole at least one Sunday out of the month. Developmental The Jackson Family has always declared home their safe haven. Which means no matter what mistakes you make in life, do not ever think home is no longer an option. Home in the Jackson Family is where the center and heart of love is. There is no problem too great to solve and no hurt too great that can’t be healed. Usually behind the solutions to every problem and every hurt was Mrs. Jackson. Mrs. Jackson is the backbone of the family, until about a year ago. About a year ago Mrs. Jackson was getting ready to leave work when all of sudden she could not catch her breath. After causing the serious concern of her co-workers an ambulance was called. Mrs. Jackson was taken to a nearby hospital and admitted. Mr. Jackson was notified and arrived right away. Not long after the entire Jackson Family was sitting in a waiting room waiting to hear news that would devastate them all. Mrs. Jackson kidneys were failing and she needed a kidney transplant right away. The entire family went through tests to see if they were matches none of them passed the test. Mrs. Jackson’s condition continued to get worse even on the dialysis treatment. Functional Mrs. Jackson has had to relearn how to live life. The change her family has seen in her is devastating. A once strong woman is now defeated and trying to survive. Now it’s the family’s turn to be the backbone. The only problem is Mrs. Jackson refuses to allow anyone to take her place even though the days become more and more difficult for her. Mr. Jackson finally decided to take a risky stand cutting his hours at work to be at home more with Mrs. Jackson to monitor her. This was of course against Mrs. Jackson’s will. The Jackson Family as a whole has had to change their usual routines. Usually the grand-kids all have some time of activity going on from ballgames to dance and piano practice. Whenever any of the grand-kids had an activity going on the entire family was there in support. If not attending the grand-kids’ activities the family usually had game-nights, movie nights, backyard barbecues and dinners. Mark, Carol, Lenny and Shelldon have all had to change their social schedules as well to lend more support to Mr. Jackson. Mrs. Jackson is no longer made aware of all the activities the grand-kids are involved in because she will over exert herself and wind up in the hospital for several days. When in the hospital Mrs. Jackson becomes very sad almost depressed sometimes. Carol believes it is because she has to be faced with an illness she is trying to deny through living life as she once did. Diagnosis and Intervention Mrs. Jackson has experienced signs of confusion this has been one of the hardest things for the family to deal with. Mrs. Jackson at times Clinical Reference Systems (2006) was unable to concentrate, pay attention or remember. At times she could not properly identify her surroundings. Mrs. Jackson has experienced severe drowsiness (sometimes while driving). So the advice to the family is to make sure Mrs. Jackson is never left alone. Although symptoms that are easily recognizable such as dizziness, clammy skin, or abnormal breathing are good warning signs for the family to be aware of. Evidenced Based Practice Nursing Article The article chosen for this diagnosis explains and describes what acute confusion is, how to recognize it, treat it. Most importantly the article informs family members how to deal with the condition without offending the member with the condition. References Wright, L.M. & Leahey, M. (1994). Nurses and families: a guide to assessment and intervention, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. "Confusion.(Senior Health Advisor 2006)(Medical condition overview)." Clinical Reference Systems. McKesson Health Solutions LLC. 2006. Retrieved April 09, 2011 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-161168874.html Read More