Taking everything in and questioning it gives a more well rounded and in depth knowledge to base each philosophy off of. The main purpose is to care for the individual and I believe holistic approach is a good way to do so. Holistic nursing places emphasis on both the environment and treatment of the patient to include patient’s uniqueness as human beings along with their cultural views, values, and beliefs. (Flagg, 2015). Nursing can be very broad. It is goal oriented to each patient so that his or her individual health needs are met. Some patients could benefit tremendously just by taking them outside to get fresh air or by just sitting down to talk to
The Canadian Holistic Nursing Association expresses that “the goal of holistic nursing is to promote the betterment and well being of the client through compassionate care and unconditional love”(7). Primarily, it promotes and maintains a stable healing process that not only is impacting the body but is also changing the mind. It facilitates a lifestyle change that alters the quality of life of the patient for the better. Furthermore, holistic nursing is not used on a specific patient or disease instead it is a way of thinking, reflecting, practicing, and of life. In return, holistic nursing also better the lives of the nurse. They are fulfilling their duty as a healthcare professional in taking care of the person as a whole. They acknowledge the mind, body and spirit. In addition, The Canadian Holistic Nursing Association claims that it “facilitates awareness of feelings, thoughts and attitudes related to perceived difficulties with living and or dying”(7). In return, this leaves the nurse to feel satisfied with their work, for they know that they have completed their task of providing exceptional
Nursing came in a round-about way for me. I had little direction when I graduated high school and had already disregarded the nursing field due to an incident with a family member (who was a nurse) that had left a negative impression about the nursing field on me. I entered college planning on a pre-med or biology major. I had built up a vision of college being different- scholarly, intellectual, advanced- different somehow than school before. I soon was disillusioned. My first biology course was a bitter disappointment and I turned away from any thoughts of a medical/health related career altogether.
Thornton, L. (2014, January 1). Welcome to AHNA: What is Holistic Nursing? Retrieved November 12, 2014, from
Dossey, B., & Keegan, L. (2013). Holistic nursing: A handbook for practice (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Nursing defined as: “Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. It includes the promotion of health, the prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people” (WHO, 2005). Holistic care is used in modern nursing theory as guidance, this nursing process is defined as a method to restore health as the goal, treating patients as a “whole person” based on principle of humanism, respecting
Nursing is unique to the healthcare industry because nurses use a holistic approach. Holistic care involves caring for patients as a whole, with an awareness of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions and needs (Crawford, 2010). This statement to me explains why nurses are so unique to the healthcare. A nurse’s care for patients is about additional needs rather than just the physical needs. Patients are cared for by nurses on every level.
As I reflect on my nursing journey, I realize that I have unknowingly created a set of values and beliefs for myself, otherwise known as my personal nursing philosophy. A product of my knowledge obtained from my interactions with diverse group of patients from the inner city of the Bronx to the suburbs of Milford CT. As I continue to advance in my career, my ethics associated with a diverse patient population, has help me navigate into a nurse who sees the patient as a holistic being. As Thorne states in theoretical basis of nursing “nursing practice facilitates, supports, and assists individuals, families, communities, and societies to enhance, maintain, and recover health and to reduce and ameliorate the effects of illness” (Thorne et al., 1998).
I still believe that this profession revolves around the nursing metaparadigm, which involves the aspects of nursing, health, the person, and the environment (Bender & Feldman, 2015), but I now see that it is also grounded in critical thinking. This critical thinking allows for nurses to gain a deeper understanding into each aspect of the metaparadigm and without this aspect or lack thereof, Arli, Bakan, Ozturk, Erisik, and Yildirim (2017) believes that the care being provided could be negatively affected. Moreover, while reflecting on what my philosophy entails, I first inquired into what I believe nursing to be. For me, nursing is a profession unlike any other and contrary to what I used to believe in first year, only those who are registered under the College of Nurses can be a part of this profession. It is important to remember that although anyone can help bandage a cut, this does not mean that they are a nurse or part of the profession. The difference between how nurses bandage a cut and everyone else is that nurses do so in a way that is more therapeutic and patient-centred. Next, while exploring my beliefs on the concept of health, I noticed that they parallel the beliefs I had during my first year. To me, health is a holistic concept that will always convey a different meaning for each person. As a result of these differences, nurses must engage in conversation with patients about their perception(s) of their current state of health and what health means to them so that care can be guided accordingly. From here, I thought about the concept of the person and how I originally believed that a patient could only be a single, holistic individual who has specific needs that must be cared for. Despite still agreeing with this, my definition of who the person is has expanded to also encompass the patient’s family and even their community if either/or are said to be within the
It was clear to me that the mastery of skills, intuitiveness, cultural competency, therapeutic communication, and a voracious hunger for learning would remain centerpieces of my nursing philosophy. Yet, a more powerful conviction emerged from my contemplation after a particularly unpleasant incident occurred while I was working with a burned out, dispassionate nurse. As a result of that experience, I was at last able to articulate what lies at the core of my nursing philosophy. I discovered that above all, my true goal, passion, and mission as a nurse is to heal with kindness. It is this conviction that drives me and continually stirs my passion, commitment and determination to keep at it day after