Duvall's Family Development And Life Cycle Theory

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Duvall’s Family Development and Life Cycle Theory states that families follow a predictive and individual process of development that is dependent on the family’s circumstances and interactions. Though families today are more diverse than in the past, this theory still guides nursing approaches because it examines families’ experiences and how they adapt when becoming parents (Rowe Kaakinen, Padgett Coehlo, Steele, and Tabacco, 2015). In this discussion, I will choose one of the development tasks from Duvall’s theory and discuss how I would apply it to a family in my nursing practice.
Becoming a new parent is a life changing and stressful event even under the best conditions. For adoptive parents, the stress is often acute because they become …show more content…

They moved to Columbus a year ago and have not developed a network of friends that they can rely on. They are contemplating hiring a nanny during the day instead of using the daycare center. If this is successful, they may be able to use the nanny as a resource to help them free up time so that they can develop stronger friendships or spend time together. If these interventions are not successful and one or both feels isolated, depressed, or lonely, the nurse can suggest, social networking, counseling or support …show more content…

To support the emotional and physical health of these families, nurses provide interventions that assist them through the nine tasks of family development. For Danny and Mark, lack of sleep, lack of time, social isolation, and fatigue impacts their relationship and emotional state. To help mitigate the effects of stress, the nurse educates them on activities to reduce stress and finds ways to maximize their schedule to provide opportunities to participate in those activities. .The nurse also helps Danny and Mark by suggesting and/or finding resources to help with childcare which will provide time for them to spend with each other and with friends. Supporting the emotional health of families with newborns influences positive parent-child relationships and decreases infant maltreatment, family conflicts and negative outcomes (Goldberg & Smith,

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