Family nursing is one of the essential aspect of public nursing in any healthcare system in the world. Family nursing is a form of primary care that is available to all patients regardless of their age. In family nursing, nurses must examine the health of different families in their entirety and identify the various health problems and risk factors faced by the families ( Diers et al., 2013 ). After the identification of the health problems and risk factors, nurses come up with interventions to address the health challenges faced the family. After the identification of risk factors and challenges they go ahead and implement the interventions that have been developed. Family nursing, therefore, plays a huge role in ensuring that the health status of an individual or an entire family is improved. It is also instrumental in promoting the relationship between healthcare providers and their patients. One significant factor that makes family nursing crucial in improving family health is the fact that it takes a team approach while handling various health challenges faced by families. Over the years, several theories that attempt to demonstrate the most effective way of offering family nursing services to people have emerged. However, one of the most used theories is Neuman’s Systems Model ( Diers et al., 2013 ). This paper seeks to have an in-depth discussion concerning the Neuman’s Systems Model and how it addresses alcoholism within a family.
Background of the Family Problem
Alcoholism ranks among the significant challenges facing many families around the world in today’s society. Its devastating effects makes it necessary to urgently come up with measures that can address the vice before causing more effects. Alcoholism can be described as the uncontrollable and strong desire to drink alcohol which makes a victim to prioritize drinking above all other responsibilities ( Sharma et al., 2016 ). An alcoholic person will most likely ignore several essential duties such as taking care of their family, attending school, basic hygiene and also attending work. It is critical that the signs and symptoms of alcoholism are identified quickly so that rehabilitation measures can be undertaken to ensure that the victim is saved from the vice. Sharma et al. state that among the significant alcoholism signs to look out for are the inability to restrain from drinking, mental health problems such as anxiety, minimal or complete lack of interest in activities that they were previously engaging in, and poor hygiene. Alcoholism is one of the leading causes of failed marriages in the United States and the rest of the world (2016). Alcoholic people are mostly violent to other members of the family, or they cease to perform the duties that they are supposed to carry out, making it almost impossible to maintain a family structure. It is therefore essential for families to identify the problem at an early stage and then involve family nursing in dealing with the situation. An analysis of the Neuman’s system model reveals that the theory is capable of comprehensively dealing with alcoholism.
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Overview of the Theory
Neuman’s system model is one of the most efficient family nursing systems. The system is flexible, and it provides a holistic approach while solving any healthcare challenge faced by a family. According to North, and Hughes, t he system is concerned mainly with how each patient responds to different environmental stressors whether potential or actual and the implementation of various primary, secondary, or tertiary prevention, and intervention methods to achieve a patient system wellness. The main concepts of the theory are content, entropy, and negentropy. Content is mainly concerned with the interaction of the patient with the environment specifically the extent of the reaction. Entropy refers to the process of disorganization where a patient is moved towards illness and the flexible line of illness. Negentropy, on the other hand, refers to the efforts that ensure the victim achieves full recovery and moves away from a disease or health condition (2012). According to North, and Hughes (2012), t he theory is flexible, meaning that it focusses on different people while attempting to solve a health challenge within a family. Foremost, it provides several primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive measures that target the whole family to prevent any of the family members from achieving a poor health status. It also has several intervention provisions that singles out the affected individual or individuals within a family set up and attempt to solve their health challenges. Through the intervention methods, the family members that are affected by a vice such as alcoholism can be assisted to quit the vice. From the analysis, it is clear that the Neuman’s system model is the most appropriate theory to be applied in case of alcoholism within a family.
Description and Analysis of the Theory
From Neuman’s system model, it is clear that it is aimed at identifying the different reactions that a patient has towards various stressors in the environment. The theory believes that patients achieve their health status through their interaction with stressors in the environment in which they live. The stressors can either improve or make the health status of an individual even worse ( Fairbrother, Chiarella, & Braithwaite, 2015 ). In the case of alcoholism within a family, the theory holds that there must be reasons or stressors within a patient’s environment that makes them develop an addiction. Several solutions are provided by Neuman’s system model when dealing with alcoholism within a family. Foremost, it is important to identify different factors that may have influenced a person to become an alcoholic. They may include stress and depression, influence from family and friends, and boredom. Once the factors causing alcoholism have been singled out, a family nurse can then embark on implementing various intervention methods such as counseling and rehabilitation programs ( Fairbrother, Chiarella, & Braithwaite, 2015 ). Neuman’s system model is a useful theory due to its ability to investigate and come up with the various factors causing alcoholism before choosing the best intervention method. The identification of the causes of the disorder is an essential step because it enables family nurses to identify the most efficient way of dealing with the disease.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Neuman’s System Model
From the analysis of Neuman’s system model, several advantages and disadvantages can be identified. Dubois et al. suggest that o ne of the benefits of the theory is that it provides family nurses the freedom to choose the most appropriate intervention method to apply in different scenarios. This enables them to use the years of experience and knowledge that they have in solving different challenges, leading to a higher success rate in handling the health challenges faced by families. The theory also advocates for a holistic approach while handling health challenges. Taking a holistic approach is useful in most cases as it increases the chances of finding comprehensive solutions to different problems. Despite the advantages of the theory, there are also some disadvantages that it has. Foremost, the fact that it relies on the analyzation of stressors to come up with prevention and intervention methods is not sufficient as there cases where stressors in the environment might not cause an individual's condition. Another disadvantage of the model is that it does not give provisions for events where patients react differently to the stressors in the environment. From the above drawbacks, the main one is the fact that the system relies on a patient's reaction to stressors in the environment to come up with intervention or prevention measures (2012).
The Application of the Theory
The Neuman’s system model can be applied to solve various issues such as alcoholism and mental illness within a family as through this, family nurses can quickly identify the multiple stressors that cause alcoholism or how mental illness affects families. Using the theory, family nurses can solve any challenges caused by addiction. The theory will help them identify the different stressors that cause a patient to become alcoholic and then identify the best intervention method to make sure that the patient quits the vice ( Fairbrother, Chiarella, & Braithwaite, 2015 ).
Conclusion
In summation, it is evident why Neuman’s system model is one of the efficient nursing theories that is used in solving various health challenges. Multiple scholars believe that the theory is useful due to its ability to offer holistic and comprehensive solutions to different problems. Through the theory, family nurses can identify the stressors that cause individuals to develop various health conditions. The identification of the stressors gives the nurses a hint of what the possible solutions to health challenges might be.
References
Diers, D., Hendrickson, K., Rimar, J., & Donovan, D. (2013). Understanding nursing units with data and theory. Nursing Economics, 31 (3), 110-7.
Dubois, C., D'Amour, D., Tchouaket, E., Rivard, M., Clarke, S., & Blais, R. (2012). A taxonomy of nursing care organization models in hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 12 , 286. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-286
Fairbrother, G., Chiarella, M., & Braithwaite, J. (2015). Models of care choices in today's nursing workplace: Where does team nursing sit? Australian Health Review, 39 (5), 489-493. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AH14091
North, N., & Hughes, F. (2012). A systems perspective on nursing productivity. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 26 (2), 192-214. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777261211230772
Sharma, N., Sharma, S., Ghai, S., Basu, D., Kumari, D., Singh, D., & Kaur, G. (2016). Living with an alcoholic partner: Problems faced and coping strategies used by wives of alcoholic clients. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 25 (1) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0972- 6748.196053
