Kathryn E. Barnard – Parent-Child Interaction Model, Research Paper Example

Kathryn E. Barnard’s parent-child interaction model is a middle-range nursing theory that assesses the behaviors of both children and parents to identify “children at risk”. Children at risk can include those who are experiencing a failure to thrive, severely sick newborns, and children who have suffered abuse and neglect (Pathbreakers, 1996). Barnard’s research evolved to include the investigation of environmental factors that are necessary to ensure a child’s well-being in terms of physical health and mental status. Ultimately, she found that the parent-child relationship was an essential component of later ability to think and speak clearly, indicating that early interactions with parents have the ability positively influence the development of the child.

As a consequence of Barnard’s observations, she was able to establish the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training (NCAST) program, which consisted of a series of testing for nurses to use to determine the positivity or the negativity sensed by the parent-child interaction. Currently, there are more than 400 NCAST trainers and more than 14,000 nurses and physicians implement this methodology as a part of their practice. It is important to consider that the parent-child interaction has important implications in supporting the health of the child, as they require a close system to positively influence their recovery and health maintenance.

This paper will analyze Barnard’s parent-child interaction model and discuss how this theory has been studied in modern practice. Currently, it has the ability to improve the quality of care that young patients are receiving. In addition, key concepts and relationships among concepts of the theory will be discussed. Last, the relationship between the parent-child interaction model and nursing leadership and nursing education will be discussed and examples of the successes that can be achieved using this model will be provided.

The Importance of the Parent-Child Interaction Model

Although Bernard’s Parent-Child Interaction Model was developed in the 1960s, it continues to be applicable to the study of children’s health today. When Barnard began her studies of the parent-child relationship, there was little understanding of the connection between these two people with regards to the development of child communication and brain growth. To ensure that children are at their appropriate developmental stage, it is therefore necessary for health care professionals to emphasize the importance of familial closeness when a newborn is being raised into an adult. While this relationship has an indirect impact on the health of the child, young children need a support system to be in place so that they can effectively cope with their sicknesses and develop a manner of order in their lives that allow them to approach their health similarly as adults.

Ultimately, the parent-child interaction model can impact patient care because children are more likely to recover quickly if a supportive parent is present. In addition to the role that the parent plays in providing their children with regular medication, ensuring that they go to the doctor when they are sick or for follow up, and providing them with life’s necessities, the love and care that they show towards their children provide the children with the motivation necessary to recover. Therefore, this relationship plays both a physical and mental role in the development of a child. Furthermore, individuals who are in a loving parent-child relationship as children are more likely to become responsible adults, who perpetuate this positivity in their own relationships with their children. When parents support the care of their child, it makes it easier for the nurse to ensure that all recommended health interventions are being followed, which ultimately increases the likelihood that the patient will achieve the expected recovery. A positive parent-child interaction allows the child to be capable of achieving positive medical results.

Summary of Key Concepts

Kathryn E. Barnard’s parent-child interaction model was selected for analysis because this model could be used to enhance the success of the treatments and lifestyle changes recommended by medical professionals. Strengthening the parent-child relationship allows the child to have greater access to care. Nurses who wish to determine the strength of the relationship between their child patient and their parents can be measured using the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training (NCAST). This analysis is conducted using a series of observations and assessment questions that help the health care professional learn more about this relationship (Kim, 2001). The strength of the relationship is measured on a scale with 0 to 1, with 1 being the strongest relationship and 0 being the weakest. Based on these results, the health care professional would be able to provide the parents with advice about how to strengthen this relationship in addition to how strengthening the relationship would positively impact the health of their child.

Many practitioners implement Barnard’s theory into their work, but have determined that there is a greater need for them to gain an understanding of the parent-child interaction as it relates to health (Pridham et al., 2010). As a consequence, researchers conclude that Barnard’s theory can be used as a reasonable starting point into gaining an understanding of this complex relationship. Therefore, while the use of her theory is practical, there are more questions that are left to be answered regarding the research that she had started 55 years ago.

Relationship between Theory and Nursing Leadership and Education

Nursing leadership is particularly important to ensuring that the parent-child interaction model is used properly and when applicable. Ultimately, while this theory is beneficial to any practitioner who works with children, many individuals fail to implement it due to a lack of knowledge of the topic. Therefore, it is the responsibility of nurse leaders to educate other members of the staff about this leadership model so that it could serve to benefit their patients as well. This concept is tied closely into the need to educate new nurses about this theory. It is important for nurses in training to be aware of a variety of nursing models so that they can implement them as needed. The parent-child interaction model is an important method to include in the training of these new professionals because a wide range of nurses interact with either children or their parents, which could therefore benefit from being provided with advice on how to improve their support of one another.

Since this theory does not apply to a particular specialization, it is reasonable to share a series of instances in which this model can be utilized. The first case can occur when a parent is responsible for ensuring that their child takes the correct dose of medication, the correct amount of times, at the right time of day. The nurse could intervene to ensure that the parent is aware of the proper dosing procedure in addition to recommending him or her to include the medication schedule in a cell phone calendar. In the mental health field, this theory could be used to support the early brain development of the child. Parents should be informed that reading to their children at a young age will help support their ability to communicate, both written and orally. Therefore, it is important to provide parents of young children with this advice in order to provide them with an increased means of ensuring that their children will not experience learning delays.

Conclusion

Kathryn E. Barnard’s parent-child interaction model is beneficial to implement regularly in the health care setting because it allows health care professionals to enhance the rate of their patients’ recoveries simply by providing advice to the parent and by attempting to strengthen the parent-child relationship. This nursing model can be applied in a variety of settings. Even though it focuses on developing the health of the child through their familial bond, parents could benefit from strengthening this relationship as well. Overall, a positive parent-child relationship is correlated to enhanced cognitive development in the child and nurses should therefore promote this to ensure that mental health can be achieved. Furthermore, this model helps support the physical health of children because it allows parents to learn necessary information to help their children through their recovery process. It’s important to promote the use of this theory in a variety of settings, but especially among new nurses so that they are able to develop and understanding of one of the tools that they could use in order to enhance the health of their patients.

References

Kim, G. (2001). Assessing the Quality of Parent-Child Interaction in Shared Reading Using the IPCI. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest Information and Learning Company.

Pathbreakers. (1996). Parent-Child Interaction. Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/research/pathbreakers/1979a.html

Pridham KA, Lutz KF, Anderson LS, Riesch SK, Becker PT. (2010). Furthering the Understanding of Parent–Child Relationships: A Nursing Scholarship Review Series. Part 3: Interaction and the Parent–Child Relationship—Assessment and Intervention Studies. J Spec Pediatr Nurs., 15(1): 33–61.