Social support nurse versus personal and social network social support

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Social Support

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Social Support

Nurse Versus Personal and Social Network Social Support

Parents with mentally ill children require a lot of social support to cope with daily life’s challenges and shortcomings. Some challenges affecting parents with mentally ill children are psychological, social, emotional, physical, and economic requirements. Social support is diverse and has different impacts on the parent’s life and extends to the child (Mohammed & Ghaith, 2018). Social support can be provided by the nurse or other healthcare professionals, individuals with close relationships, and other social support networks. From the nursing perspective, social support provides a positive impact and helps the parent of the mentally ill child to realize the gaps in the social life. The positive effects of the nursing interventions come from the professional skills of the nurse’s ability to provide maximum emotional support (Smith, 2020). The nurse can also help the parent of the mentally ill child cope with the different changes in the social life and realize the need for improving the child’s prognosis.

The other positive potential effectiveness also results from the nurse’s ability to link the parent with the social support systems of the hospital with a focus on improving the lives of the parent and the child. The social workers in the clinical setting and the nurse assists the parent in overcoming the economic burden by identifying affordable medication for the child and providing comprehensive care (Smith, 2020). From the perspective of social networks and personal relationships, the social support for the parent with a mentally ill child, the potential effect is direct from the evident actions toward the parent. The social network impact can be on resource channeling to address the parent’s long-term or short-term needs (Mohammed & Ghaith, 2018). The social networks can also organize frequent interactive sessions to guide parents with mentally ill children on the need for continuous care and follow-up on the child’s condition. The social networks can also organize and support the parent in helping the child access schools and other learning institutions for children with mental illnesses, like the schools addressing mentally retarded children.

In personal relationships, social support is directly from emotional encouragement and helping the parent meet the daily needs of the mentally ill children. Emotional and moral support is meaningful when individuals with similar problems come together and discuss their daily challenges (Mohammed & Ghaith, 2018). The parents and the individuals can share experiences and various methods of problem-solving on current and past issues and predict solutions for future challenges. In conclusion, the nursing or the professional role in providing social support to parents with mentally ill children versus the individual and social network support has a positive impact when done consistently and professionally.

References

Mohammed, S. F. M., & Ghaith, R. F. A. H. (2018). Relationship between burden, psychological well-being, and social support among caregivers of mentally ill patients. 
Egyptian Nursing Journal, 
15(3), 268.
https://www.enj.eg.net/article.asp?issn=2090-6021;year=2018;volume=15;issue=3;spage=268;epage=280;aulast=Mahmoud

Smith, K. (2020). 
Talking therapy: Knowledge and power in American psychiatric nursing. Rutgers University Press.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KpTTDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT7&dq=nursing+psychiatry+textbook+2020&ots=kpOt1mvUxh&sig=FQzBv95nr6-MlFaxDN6CDDNxWUA