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Running Header: HOLISTIC NURSING Holistic Nursing A holistic nurse is a nurse who recognizes and integrates body-mind-emotion-spirit-environment principles and modalities in daily life and clinical practice, creates a caring healing space within his or herself that allows the nurse to be an instrument of healing” (Dossey & Keegan, 2008, p49). A holistic nurse will assist the patient and family during the recovery from illness or transition to death. A holistic nurse will provide a peaceful environment that removes the barriers to the healing process and helps the patient’s grow personally.
This paper will discuss two perspectives that a nursing professional may have, “getting the job done” and “holding sacred space”. “Getting the job done” perspective is the best description of our current healthcare system. According to Dossey ; Keegan (2008), “healing and curing are different processes” (p. 94). The sickness-cure system that describes the elimination of the signs and symptoms of a disease, which may or may not be the end of the patient’s disease or distress. This is the main focus of our modern health care system.
While this perspective is common today, it is not a complete healing process. With millions of disease processes and chronic conditions present in healthcare today, reaching a cure is impossible for over 85% of health problems (Dossey & Keegan, 2008, p. 95). An example that was noticed in the clinical setting of “getting the job done” would be a nurse walking into the patient’s room to take vital signs. The nurse entered the patient’s room without knocking, then proceeded to grab the blood pressure cuff and take a blood pressure, then the pulse and respirations, and pulse oximetry.
Other than saying that she was there to take the vital signs, she did not speak a word to the patient. When she was done taking the vital signs, she simply left the room without another word. This nurse completed a necessary task of being a nurse; however, did not focus on anything other than that task. During this interaction with the patient, this nurse did not have a connection between herself and the patient. She did not allow an increase in energy, coherence, and creativity for the patient. She did not offer any chance for personal growth and recovery for this patient.
In comparison to the “Getting the job done” perspective, the “holding sacred space” perspective can “facilitate healing of the whole body-mind-spirit” (Dossey & Keegan, 2008, p. 95). The purpose of a holistic nursing professional is to focus and appreciate the wholeness and uniqueness of every patient. The holistic nursing professional realizes that every intervention performed affects the whole body-mind-spirit of the patient. An example of the “holding sacred space” perspective would be a nurse that walks into a patient’s room with a positive attitude, an openness towards acceptance of the patient, and a listening ear.
While I have not observed a direct example of this myself during my clinical experiences, I did observe this when one of my friends was in the hospital. She was in the hospital for heart arrhythmias and abdominal pain. After many tests, the physician was able to determine that she had a bad gallbladder and had to have surgery. Shortly after the physician left the room, the nurse went into the room and asked the patient if she wanted to talk about anything and if there was anything that she could get the patient to help her relax.
Even though the patient just asked for some sherbet, the nurse also contacted the doctor to ask if she could consult the massage therapist that was offered by the hospital. The physician agreed and the massage therapist came to see the patient. The massage helped to decrease the patient’s anxiety and helped her be able to relax and deal with the stress of the illness that was occurring. This nurse showed that she cared about the patient and that she was not simply there to complete a task.
Every nursing professional will have their own perspective in regard to his or her nursing practice. The question becomes, which perspective is right? Is one perspective better than the other? According to Dossey & Keegan (2008), “the true healthcare system will emerge when both curing and healing processes are equally valued, sought after, and facilitated for all, and when the full range of curing, caring, and healing modalities is available to all” (p96). Reference Dossey, B, & Keegan, L. (2008). Holistic nursing: A handbook for practice 5th ed. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.