How to Draw a Genogram for Nursing Class

Genograms are diagrams, similar to family trees. They are visual maps that use specific symbols to represent people, relationships and other information about a family. Genograms have many uses. They can help people discern patterns that exist over generations, including issues such as substance abuse, divorce, marriage and disease. For nurses, genograms can be used to assess patients and create intervention strategies. Genograms are highly organized and provide an easy visual way to access information. Using a genogram may help patients to open up about their history and help both patient and nurse to understand the patient's illness in the context of their family and family history.

Things You'll Need

• Large piece of paper

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Instructions

• 1

  If you are creating the genogram with a patient, explain the purpose behind the genogram and that you will be asking her to share information about family history. Reassure the patient that this information is pertinent to her treatment and for you to understand issues with regard to her health history. Give the patient the choice to either draw it herself or to have you draw the information. Elderly people, small children and very infirmed patients may need assistance.

• 2

  Draw a symbol representing the designated patient in the bottom center portion of the paper. The genogram will be drawn from that spot upwards. For a female, use a circle to indicate the patient. For a male, use a square. Write the patient's name and birth date next to this symbol. The same will be done for all of the people you add to the genogram. If you add someone who has died, include the date of death next to the date of birth.

• 3

  Add the members of the patient's family. Use squares to represent men and circles to represent women. Use a line to connect married couples; for instance, the patient's parents should be connected with a single line. Begin with parents and siblings. The patient and his siblings should then stem off of this line, drawn from eldest to youngest, left to right. Continue this pattern up through at least two generations.

• 4

  Use symbols to show details of family relationships. For example, two slashed lines between a married couple indicates divorce. A dotted line indicates an unmarried couple. Similarly, people can be connected using lines that show the closeness of their relationships. Straight lines show that two people are close, while jagged lines show a hostile relationship.