Arun Das

Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts. ~Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale, who believed in care that focused on unity, wellness, and the interrelationship of human beings and their environment, is considered to be one of the first holistic nurses.

 

Holistic nursing is defined as “all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal” (American Holistic Nurses’ Association, 1998, Description of Holistic Nursing). Holistic nursing is a specialty practice that draws on nursing knowledge, theories, expertise and intuition to guide nurses in becoming therapeutic partners with people in their care. This practice recognizes the totality of the human being - the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotion, spirit, social/cultural, relationship, context, and environment.  

The holistic nurse is an instrument of healing and a facilitator in the healing process. Holistic nurses honor each individual's subjective experience about health, health beliefs, and values.

Holistic nurses may integrate complementary/alternative modalities (CAM) into clinical practice to treat people’s physiological, psychological, and spiritual needs. Doing so does not negate the validity of conventional medical therapies, but serves to complement, broaden, and enrich the scope of nursing practice and to help individuals access their greatest healing potential. 

The practice of holistic nursing requires nurses to integrate self-care, self-responsibility, spirituality, and reflection in their lives. This may lead the nurse to greater awareness of the interconnectedness with self, others, nature, and spirit. This awareness may further enhance the nurses understanding of all individuals and their relationships to the human and global community, and permits nurses to use this awareness to facilitate the healing process.

For me, holistic nursing is not only something that we, as a nurses do: it is an attitude, a philosophy, and a way of being.

Philosophy of nursing states our thoughts on what we believe to be true about the nature of the profession of nursing and provide a basis for nursing activities. It endorses ethical values we hold as basic and bases our beliefs in theory. These values and beliefs are congruent with the University Health System's Mission, Vision and Values. To facilitate patient care, we use Helen Erickson's Nursing theory of Modeling and Role Modeling. To better match patients and the nurses who provide care, nurses at University Health System use the American Association Critical Care Nurses (AACN) Synergy model.

As  I pursue my bridging course for nurses in Australia I aimed to cultivate a positive outlook and strong self motivation which reflect in my performance at both professional and personal levels through academic achievements and superior interpersonal skills. As time goes by, I developed  cultural sensitivity to work well with patients from various racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups; skills to think analytically; ability to accept responsibilities and be accountable for their actions. I managed effective communication to express ideas and suggestions through speech and writing which would be the basis of a successful career in nursing and also gained insights by participating and interacting with other nursing professionals on various online healthcare forums.

One of my learning goals is to develop a skill to think analytically for effective delivery of healthcare. I believe that being a nurse will often encounter situations in which successful patient outcomes will depend on the aptness of my decision. Strong critical thinking skills are also important to help evaluate research findings and apply them in practical everyday situations. Considering the fact that I will work in different settings such as individual, group, family and community healthcare, I should be capable of judging which practices are most beneficial for a given situation.

 In order to develop these goals, I need to practice strategies to encourage the critical thinking process such as: engaging in continuous education; reading journals and writing brief case studies; dealing with questions that involve reasoning skills and the ability to organize and articulate knowledge; and finally weighing alternatives, looking at reasons for choosing one alternative over another in an open, flexible and attentive manner and considering what actions to follow.