Gordon’s Functional Health Pattern

Gordon’s functional health pattern was proposed and developed by Marjory Gordon. It is the method used by nurse to provide a comprehensive assessment on the client. Gordon’s functional health pattern is divided into 11 categories. These categories are a systematic and standardized approach to data collection. Each of the categories enables the nurse to determine the different factors of health and human function. These categories are health perception and health management, nutrition and metabolism, urine and waste elimination, activity and exercise, cognition and perception, sleep and rest, self-perception and self-concept, roles and relationships, sexuality and reproduction, coping and stress tolerance, and values and belief (Functional Health Patterns, 2005).

The first category is health perception and health management. This pattern is related to the client’s view of health and well-being. This also includes the client’s knowledge of lifestyle, preventative health practices, and the client’s adherence to medical advice. The data collected is focused on the client’s perceived level of well-being and focuses on maintaining health. Smoking, alcohol use, recreational drug use, and other habits that are detrimental to the client’s health are also included in this category. This category also focuses on the client’s safety and health management in the home that may need modifications or for continued care in the home. An example of a sub category for this patter is risk-prone health behavior. This would include the client’s use of tobacco product, drugs, or alcohol (Koshar, N.D.). A question the nurse might ask is “On average, how many alcoholic beverages do you drink per day?” One nursing intervention for this would be for the nur...

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...the different functions of health. There are eleven categories, which are systematic and are used as a standardized approach to data collection. Each of the categories collect, validate and organize data about a client’s state of wellness, functional ability, physical status, strengths, and responses to actual and potential health problems.

Works Cited

Functional Health Patterns. (2005, March 21).Nursingtheory.com. Retrieve from http://www.nursingtheory.net/gt_functionalhealth.html

Gordon, M. (2007). Manual of nursing diagnosis: including all diagnostic categories approved by the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (11th ed.). Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett.

Koshar, J. (n.d.). Gordon's Functional Health Patterns Sonoma State University. Retrieved from http://www.sonoma.edu/users/k/koshar/n340/N345_Gordon_FHP.html