[Is the family important in cardiovascular care?]

Family care is an increasingly important component of nursing practice. A systemic perspective on a cardiac health problem compels nurses to consider the reciprocal relationship between the evolution of the illness and the patient's family dynamics. An increasing number of studies focus on how an illness impacts on the family and how the family can be either a source of stress for the patient or a welcome support. Based on various studies and on clinical examples from the authors' practice, this article stresses the importance for nurses to include the family in their cardiovascular nursing care whatever the clinical context or their expertise in family nursing. Systemic questioning that facilitates the sharing of the illness experience between family members and the exploration of the family's strengths and resources are nursing interventions that can be practiced in all clinical contexts. These interventions are important because they can considerably alleviate the patient's as well as and the family's suffering.