Interpreting the Interactions in Family Systems with “Circular Epistemology” Roles and Use in Family Nursing

<p>The perspective of family assessment, which treats the family as a system, focuses on the relationships between family members as a group and one another as well as the external world (including nurses who provide care). The application of circular epistemology assists in understanding these relationships between multiple people. This perspective emphasizes the need for interactions and communication processes.</p><p>G. Bateson emphasized the existence of interaction in human life. He then discussed learning the context of life as a matter of the external relationship between two creatures. And relationship is always a product of double description. It is correct (and a great improvement) to begin to think of the two parties to the interaction as two eyes, each giving a monocular view of what goes on and, together, giving a binocular view in depth. This double view is the relationship.</p><p>Understanding this dual depiction is important for practice concerning family nursing, as doing so involves focusing on the narratives of distress and illness that are told and perceived to be the “reality” of the family members. These narratives are the product of coordination between members with regards to interactions within systems both inside and outside the family dynamic. They are the stories told by family members based on the dual depiction aspect of the two parties with whom they interact. Through learning and knowing the context of family members from their narrative accompanied by experiences placed on the time axis, nurses can understand the individuals with depth information that is given meaning for the people involved in the interaction. Interpreting the family system based on circular epistemology is an attempt to visualize family (including patients) interactions, that appears as a “relationship” through the context of the party. And the relationship between the family system and the nurse in the helping relationship is also taken into account in that situation.</p>