Family Dynamics

Welcome to the beautiful, messy, interconnected world of Family Dynamics!

When you study anatomy, you think of the body as a collection of organ systems working together to keep a person alive. But in nursing, our patients don’t exist in a vacuum. A patient is a single particle constantly interacting with a much larger atomic structure: their family. Think of a family like a finely balanced Alexander Calder mobile hanging from the ceiling. If you flick one piece, or add a weight to another, the entire apparatus shifts, sways, and reorganizes itself.

To pass the NCLEX—and more importantly, to be a spectacular nurse—you need to understand how to read the blueprints of these family structures, how to measure the forces pulling them apart, and how to help them find their balance again when a new piece is added to the mobile.

Let's dive in.

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