Understanding Holistic Nursing: Six Pillars of Personal Care

I have become aware of my understanding of persons. As nurses, we need to put our patients and their families at the heart of all our decisions. This is well accomplished if we have a better understanding of who they are. It is important to see people through God’s eyes and care for them to the best of our ability. Understanding persons in healthcare is mastered by being aware of the six characteristics of a person.

The six characteristics of a person is holism, behavior, self-concept, basic needs, developmental stage and culture. The first characteristic of a person is holism, I believe that nurses need to treat the person as a whole, taking into account their social and spiritual standing not just their physical needs (Carr, 2015, PowerPoint

For example, a patient that has Alzheimer’s may not remember things you tell them, therefore it is important to understand why they are acting a certain way instead of jumping to conclusions. The third characteristic is self- concept, how the patient perceives themselves in very important for care (Carr, 2015, PowerPoint slides, Word document). For example, care could be given to someone who is really weak because they have not eaten anything due to body image. The fourth characteristic is the patient 's basic needs (Carr, 2015, PowerPoint slides, Word document). Abraham Maslow’s pyramid is the best tool to use. The number one priority is the patient 's physiological needs (Carr, 2015, PowerPoint slides, Word document). It is crucial to first care for a patient not able to breathe than to focus on their self-esteem. As a nurse we need to move up the hierarchy and fulfill all the needs of our patients. The fifth characteristic is the patient 's developmental stage (Carr, 2015, PowerPoint slides, Word document). Each life stage there our

Internally, of course the biologic dimension is a variable. Our genetic material can influence our health. Another internal effect of health would be our emotions which is the psychological dimension (Berman, A., Snyder, S., & Frandsen, G., 2015, p.267). Emotional responses to stress affect our body function. For example, when a person is anxious they may feel like they need to urinate more and may experience diarrhea (Berman, et al., 2015, p.267). Pursuing this further, there are external variables that affect our health. Each person 's environment has a huge effect on their health. Pollution, radiation, chemicals and pesticides are all examples of dangerous environmental situations that have a negative impact on health (Berman, et al., 2015, p.268). An individual 's standard of living is also reflecting their health. Low-income households are more likely to eat unhealthy and live in dangerous environments (Berman, et al., 2015, p.268). An individual 's occupation could be dangerous for their health as well. For example, a construction worker is always in contact with dust, smoke and chemicals that affects their health. I believe that our health is driven by our lifestyle and what we come in contact with. Our health is associated with our