Familientherapeutische Kompetenz in der Altenpflege

Abstract

Knowledge of family therapy can be useful in various fields. In homes for the aged, nurses are often drawn into difficult quarrels between the family and the person living in the home. Understanding the family's conflict patterns could help relax the situation. A perhaps doubtful motivation to nurse the elderly and dying can be supported if such conflicts can be dealt with calmly. Integrating the skills of family therapy into the training of geriatric nurses would mean relieving them of some sources of stress rather than saddling them with quasitherapeutic burdens. Using numerous case examples, we describe some patterns of family conflict that geriatric nurses should know. We also consider some suggestions for quality assurance.