Embracing the family

Family-focused care has long been valued by the profession of nursing, but until recently it has not received the recognition it deserves in academic and health care settings. Now, with the downsizing of institutions, higher in-patient acuity with resultant family stress, and the move to providing care and treatment in the patients' homes or communities, nurses are increasingly required to be knowledgeable and skilled in communicating and problem solving with families. At the same time, nurses are also being asked to provide expedient, qualitative care and treatment that is research theory-based, cost-effective and produces positive outcomes. These expectations come at a turning point in Canada's health care history when there are shrinking resources in health care institutions, and a concomitant demand for improved consumer satisfaction.