When I tell people I am a holistic nurse I usually get one of two responses, "That is amazing" or "I didn't even know that was a thing." Honestly, for the first 10+ years of my nursing career I did not realize that it was a specialty.
So what is holistic nursing? According to the American Holistic Nurses Association, Holistic Nursing is defined as "all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal” (American Holistic Nurses’ Association, 1998).
Holistic nurses follow in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale. The founder of nursing put emphasis on caring for the whole person and their environment. They see each individual as the expert on themselves, honoring their ability to heal. "Holistic nurses recognize the human health experience as a complicated, dynamic relationship of health, illness, and wellness and they value healing as the desired outcome of the practice of nursing." (American Holistic Nurses' Association & American Nurses Association, 2019)
Too often medicine uses a one size fits all approach to health. Using an integrative comprehensive approach to guide their practice, "Holistic nurses provide care that recognizes the totality of the human being (the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotion, spirit, social/cultural, relationships, context, environment and energy)."(American Holistic Nurses' Association & American Nurses Association, 2019) Each person is an individual with unique variables that contribute to their current health and wellbeing status. Holistic nurses incorporate integrative/complementary/alternative healing practices with traditional medicine to provide the best possible outcome.
Holistic nurses value themselves, making self-care and self-reflection a daily priority. "They endeavor to integrate self-awareness, self-care, self-healing and self-responsibility into their lives by incorporating practices such as self-assessment, meditation, yoga, good nutrition, energy therapies, movement, creative expression (e.g., art, music), support and lifelong learning." (American Holistic Nurses' Association & American Nurses Association, 2019) Holistic nurses don't just talk the talk but they walk the walk!
"And what nursing has to do in either case, is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him." - Florence Nightingale
American Holistic Nurses' Association, & American Nurses Association. (2019). Holistic nursing : scope and standards of practice. American Nurses Association And American Holistic Nurses Association.
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