Holistic Care Beliefs

The nurse must examine his or her own philosophies of spiritual, cultural and social beliefs and understand the way they shape and mold the method in which they deliver care. The purpose of identifying one’s own foundations is so that you may differentiate between that of your own and your patient’s beliefs in order to provide unbiased care (Leininger, 2002, p. 190).

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

Over the last one hundred years there has been a great change in the way nurses, doctors, and others in the medical field, as well as the general public, have come to view health and wellness. Where once health was thought to only be comprised of our physical body and the physical things that affect it, we now know that health encompasses so much more. We know that who we are is made up not only of the physical body, but also of mind, and spirit (Koerner, 2011), and that this not only affects each of us individually but also those

Nursing care incorporates not only a compassionate attitude but passion for care of patients. The caring component of nursing cannot be measured, rather dissected through theory within the clarification of what nurses do. Systemically this is all supported through abundant theories and theorist. The nursing profession emphasizes on holistic care which is defined as treatment of the whole person. Within this skill is the admittance of problems that are biomedical but also opportune clarification of the well-being and health of a human that introduces added indicators of disease that are non-visualized (Powers, 2011).

Nursing revolves, not merely about looking after patients, but creating awareness in the society about self care nursing and prevention strategies and to communicate with their patients in a holistic manner, so as to satisfy their physical, mental and spiritual health needs. Various nursing theorists have repeatedly

The second factor is faith-hope that translates to being authentically present, and enabling the beliefs of the patient being cared for and the professional who is providing patient care. The third factor is sensitivity to self and other, this becomes cultivations of one’s own spiritual practices, going beyond self, and opening to others with compassion and kindness. The fourth factor is helping, trusting, human care relationship that evolves to developing and maintaining a trusting, authentic, and caring relationship. The fifth factor is expressing positive and negative feeling. The translation of this factor is being supportive when positive and negative feelings with a connection of a higher spirit. The sixth factor is creative problem-solving caring process. This factor requires scientific problem-solving for decision-making and creative use of self. The seventh factor is transpersonal teaching-learning. When using the seventh factor the nurse engages in sincere teaching learning experience. The eighth factor is supportive, protective, and corrective mental, physical, social, and spiritual environment. The environment created allows healing to occur at different levels. The ninth factor is human needs assistance. The patient receives assistance with basic needs with special attention to the mind, body, and soul. The tenth factor is existential phenomenological spiritual

Calder argues ‘…the importance of providing such services for a family who may conceal or minimise their difficulties’ (2008) implies that an holistic way of working with families who are experiencing significant and complex difficulties is the most effective approach for social workers. This holistic approach would consist of assessing and addressing the needs of the children and adults in the family, ensuring that support provided is coordinated, dependable and focused on building a professional relationship that is educative and one that provides timely practical help. Child Protection interacts frequently across child-focused services such as child and adolescent mental health services and education (REF). However, relationships and discussion

According to Hood (2014), patient centered care embraces a holistic approach which includes taking in consideration the patient/patient’s family preferences, culture or religious needs, values, and specific lifestyle choices (p. 408). The nurse then supplies knowledge and resources to support the patient in the health making decision process. “We need a mechanism to close gaps between the current and the ideal state (from patients’ and families’ points of view). The mechanism by which these gaps are closed should create “aha” moments each time it’s used, so that its usefulness is apparent.” (DiGioia 2016, p. 34). Reaching these “aha” moments with the patient and their families validates the nurses’ efforts of overcoming the presented barriers and accomplishing the expected patient

For health care providers to deliver the best holistic care that patients deserve, a thorough spiritual assessment must be included during their care. With more research showing a relationship between supporting a patient’s spirituality with their health and ability to cope with illness, it is now a requirement of organizations to include a spiritual assessment to maintain accreditation with The Joint Commission. The minimum required of a spiritual assessment by The Joint Commission is to determine the patient’s religion and

Spirituality is a delicate topic, and some may not be open to talking about their beliefs. Spirituality is generally understood to be an essential aspect of being human (Lyndo-Lam, 2012). Assessing the spiritual needs of patients is a key component in the nursing process. A compassionate and thoughtful nurse can make a patient feel more secure, making it easier for him to express his spirituality. The participation of both patient and health care provider is vital in promoting spiritual health. The main focus of a spiritual assessment is to gather information regarding the patient’s spiritual needs in order incorporate them into the plan of care, so as to treat

Spirituality is considered one of the components of health and wellness, and is a contributory factor in the delivery of holistic care (O’Shea, Wallace, Griffin, & Fitzpatrick, 2011). It only makes sense for us nurses to study and research spirituality since the nursing profession is committed to holistic development, which includes the spiritual dimension of life. However, elements such as time constraints, short staffing, insufficient formal education related to spiritual assessment and confusion between spirituality and religion have led to spirituality becoming a disregarded component of care (O’Shea et al., 2011). Adolescence is a crucial time in the development of a person’s spiritual path (Benson & Roehlkepartain, 2008). Findings showed that most adolescents hold spiritual or religious beliefs already and choose to draw on them when experiencing life-changing events. Despite this information, healthcare professionals overlook the spiritual needs of adolescents (Neuman, 2011).

The spiritual aspect of the individual is essential because it is the foundation, on which people make decisions that influence not only the way they live, but the way they perceive their health. All aspects of a person's spiritual perspective are critical and in order to holistically, take care for our patients, it is indispensable to incorporate it, as part of our plan of care. This approach will definitely help to improve outcome and enable patients to live a better-quality life.

Currently in healthcare, the vision of holistic, patient-centered care is not being successfully achieved. Holism, as an entity within healthcare, lacks research. Studies confirm that challenges in conducting research in this area are that both patients and healthcare providers have different perceptions regarding patient-focused care, and in the basic knowledge as to what holistic care encompasses. Another factor involves terminology variances regarding patient-centered care, integrative care, and holistic care making data collection difficult. Alignment of terminology, and acknowledgement of the important facet of holistic care among healthcare professionals and the public, is imperative in improving patient care and outcomes. Cultivating

Using each of the paradigms interchangeably ensures the nurse is practicing in a holistic manner. Thus, the truly holistic nurse would practice from a pragmatic perspective. In order to provide optimal care, the nurse must develop an awareness of the fluidity of patient care, and test each theory within their practice to determine its usability. This article discusses the various paradigms, providing examples of each ones contributions to practice, and presents the implications of practicing in a pragmatic paradigm from an oncology

These therapies have proved to be of much benefit in supporting the normal healing course of the body. Even though there are many modern alternative remedies, with different beliefs, all of them operate under some common principles. One of these principles is that the body has the capacity to heal naturally and maintain stability (Paquette, 2000). The other one is that adverse health conditions can occur as a result of factors emanating from mind, emotions and the body. Alternative medicine, according to Goldberg, Trivieri and Anderson, (2002), focuses on determining the chief cause of a particular condition, and dealing with the whole person rather that concentrating on symptoms. If a person pays close attention to his/her health he/she can contribute to his/her wellbeing. Alternative medicine holds firmly to the principle that one treatment cannot be used for all people even though they may be suffering from the same condition. Each and every person as per alternative medicine has distinct bodily, mind and spiritual make up (Goldberg, Trivieri and Anderson, 2002).