Nurses' involvement in interdisciplinary team evaluations: incorporating the family perspective into child assessment

An expanded nursing role in interdisciplinary team evaluations of children with special needs would include seeking the family's perspective in a systematic yet sensitive way. Nursing's background in family and child health can offer valuable insight. This article reviews family nursing assessment categories, reframes them for use in assessing the family's perspective in relation to the child's health and educational needs, and presents a systematic integrated history and assessment format for gathering child and family data. This approach promotes family collaboration in understanding family, child health, and educational issues. The holistic understanding gained by the school nurse through this systematic process enhances insight in interdisciplinary team planning. The nursing written report with preliminary conclusions facilitates an organized presentation of data, setting the stage for family and interdisciplinary team mutual exploration of options and facilitating greater likelihood of successful outcomes.