What should the nurse do when planning goals for a family?

A) View the family as a group of individuals rather than a system.
B) Make the goals as vague as possible so that they are attainable.
C) Be flexible since families are continually changing.
D) Recognize that, although individuals go through developmental stages, families do not.

Families are continually changing.As a result,the need for family support changes over time,and it is important for you to understand that the family is more complex than simply a combination of individual members.Family nursing practice has three levels of approaches: (1)family as context,(2)family as patient,and (3)family as system.The goals need to be concrete,realistic,compatible with the family's developmental stage and expectations,and acceptable to the family.Although families are far from identical to one another,they have a basic pattern and similarity in experiences,resulting in predictable stages.Each of these developmental stages has its own challenges,needs,and resources and includes tasks that need to be completed before the family is able to successfully move on to the next stage.