Need help!! Family History project

obicurn · Oct 16, 2008

A family history usually includes diseases that tend to run in families. Cancer, heart disease, HTN, things like that.

For instance, if you have a 30yr old female pt. and her mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt all had/have breast cancer, then she is a huge risk for getting it herself and that is something you would want to include.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 16, 2008

in a review of systems (ros) the most basic family history that is asked is if mother/father/siblings are alive or dead. if they are alive, what is the status of their health and if they are dead what was the cause of their death. pretty much a family history can be addressed by doing a review of systems by body system and listing any medical problems in immediate family members (mother/father/siblings) in any of those areas. i have seen ros for specialists that go into detail for their specialty. for example, a cardiologist will have questions for a new patient to answer on a health history asking about a whole bunch of heart symptoms or conditions by members of the family. ros is discussed on some of the medical examination website links on the health assessment resources, techniques, and forms sticky in nursing student assistance forum (https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/health-assessment-resources-techniques-forms-145091.html)