Holistic Care in Advanced Practice Nursing

Holistic care refers to a type of healthcare that fulfills the needs of a patient as a whole. Patients’ needs can be emotional, spiritual, physical, psychosocial, or economic. This type of care advocates for a multidisciplinary approach in providing individualized care. A holistic nursing approach to care can be implemented in various ways. Four strategies that can be used include individualization of each patient, open communication during patient assessment, identifying potential patient stressors and needs, and the initiation of the best holistic treatment method based on the patient’s needs.

Nurses should consider each patient as a whole individual. Each patient has his or her own needs that should be addressed. Furthermore, patients have varying beliefs about the treatment process. Open communication creates a good patient-nurse relationship. It reduces the patients’ anxiety and makes them feel part of their treatment process (Frisch & Rabinowitsch, 2019). It enables the patient to share his or her needs and beliefs. This enables the nurse to understand the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual needs of the patient. Identification of potential stressors to the patient’s health is enhanced by open communication. Accurate identification of these stressors forms the basis of the holistic treatment plan (Frisch & Rabinowitsch, 2019). Acupuncture, massage, lifestyle modifications, hydrotherapy, and homeopathy are examples of approaches that can be used in providing holistic nursing care.

According to Pajnkihar et al. (2017), Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring focuses on how nurses provide patient care. The ten Caritas principles proposed by the theory advocate for a holistic healthcare approach. They advocate for the cultivation of trust, hope, faith, expressing feelings, and creating an atmosphere where learning occurs (Pajnkihar et al., 2017). The nurse should embrace the beliefs of the patient and treat them wholly while considering their values. By advocating for the expression of patient feelings, embracing their beliefs, and treating each patient as a whole, the Caritas processes promote holistic care.

References.

Frisch, N. C., & Rabinowitsch, D. (2019). What’s in a Definition? Holistic Nursing, Integrative Health Care, and Integrative Nursing: Report of an Integrated Literature Review. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 37(3), 260–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010119860685

Pajnkihar, M., McKenna, H. P., Štiglic, G., & Vrbnjak, D. (2017). Fit for Practice: Analysis and Evaluation of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. Nursing Science Quarterly, 30(3), 243–252. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318417708409