Question

1. Explain In your own words how the holistic nursing journey affects they way nurses care for themselves
2. In your own words explain the evolving role of a holistic nurse

Answer 1

1-Holistic care in nursing is a philosophy that guides the care that patients' receive which emerged from the concepts of humanism and holism. It refers to the provision of care to patients that are based on a mutual understanding of their physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions.

Self-care is imperative to personal health, sustenance to continue to care for others, and professional growth. This article briefly reviews stressors common to students and nurses and the importance of practicing self-care to combat stress and promote health in practice. Florida Atlantic University offers a course for all levels of undergraduate nursing students called Caring for Self. The course, supported by principles of Adult Learning Theory, focuses on guiding the nurse to practice and model self-care. The author describes the evolution of this self-care initiative by discussing the needs assessment, course description and strategies, examples of course activities, and an exemplar of student impact. The conclusion offers discussion of challenges and lessons noted by faculty and students.themselves...

Nurses are taught to care for others; it is ingrained in their life purpose. However, in my experience, nurses often express reluctance to take the time required to care for themselves or they have difficulty finding self-care activities that match their interests and that are easily assimilated into their lives. Yet self-care can help one cope with stressors inherent to both practicing nurses and nursing students that can lead to exhaustion, tension, and fatigue (sometimes known as burnout), such as clinical decision-making and staffing concerns.While short term stress reduction programs and techniques are reported in the literature, an academic course focused on self-care has not been described.

This article briefly reviews stressors common to students and nurses and the importance of practicing self-care to combat stress and promote health in practice. At Florida Atlantic University (FAU), we offer a course for all levels of undergraduate nursing students called Caring for Self. focuses on guiding the nurse to practice and model self-care. I will describe the evolution of this course by discussing the needs assessment, course description and activities, and an exemplar of student impact. The article conclusion offers discussion of lessons learned and challenges encountered by faculty and students.

2-

Holistic nursing care is a concept that moves away from viewing a patient as merely a 'diagnosis'; rather, the patient is viewed and treated as a whole person. In other words, holistic nursing will involve care and support of the person's physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social and environmental needs. In many cases, holistic nursing may also include alternative therapies that may be seen as beneficial, with the patient's consent. This is not a new concept—even Florence Nightingale advocated holistic nursing:

"Florence Nightingale recognized the importance of caring for the whole person and encouraged interventions that enhanced individuals' abilities to draw upon their own healing powers. She considered touch, light, aromatics, empathetic listening, music, quiet reflection, and similar healing measures as essential ingredients to good nursing care."
- American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA), Position Statements, 2004

One of the most important aspects of holistic care is the involvement of the patient in making their own decisions, always being allowed to consent or deny a route of care, and a focus on self-care where ever possible. Holistic nursing not only involves those patients with curable illness but for terminal illness as well. Take any factor within holistic care—physical, psychological and emotional, spiritual and environmental aspects of life—each individual aspect has an effect on the mental and physical health of a patient. They are all interconnected and related to the person as whole. Where one area is not understood or assisted then true healing or care can't take place.A holistic assessment is one that not only identifies the care required for health requirements but the impact that other areas of the patient's life may be impacting on the path of treatment and/or cure.

Holistic nursing assessments are an excellent way to identify the true needs of a patient because they:

• Offer an opportunity for an individual to think about and have a say about what their care needs are and work in partnership with their health support team in making a plan to achieve realistic goals.
• It allows people to self care as far as possible - this gives control back to the individual and helps to raise confidence and self esteem.
• It also helps the health care team to focus support much more efficiently as their decisions are based on more informed information about the patient and their needs and wishes.
• When used properly an holistic assessment focuses on the needs and wishes of the patient not what the health care team assumes the patient's needs are.
• Because it is a team approach working with the one plan, no point of care or support is neglected or left out.
• It encourages consideration of the mind-body aspect of care and also the spiritual aspect. In addition, the patient's social and environmental conditions are also looked at.
• Holistic assessment not only focuses on treating illness but on promoting health and fitness.