Introduction
As nurses mull over their tasks in the direction of complementary modalities, in addition to integrative care, it is vital that they assess the values of the performance of the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA). The present Standards of Holistic Nursing are anchored in 5 Core Values of performance (Dossey & Keegan, 2012). Holistic nursing is denoted as a nursing endeavor where the objective is the healing of the whole person. Holistic nurses identify and incorporate the values and ways of holistic healing into everyday life, as well as medical practice. Holistic nursing persuades nurses to incorporate self-care, self-accountability, religion, and contemplation in their operations.
Core Values
The five core values embody the fundamental nature of holistic nursing and are critical for successful performance (Jackson, 2012). The first core value, Philosophy, Theory, and Ethics emphasizes that holistic nurses identify the human health practice as an intricate, dynamic association of healthiness, sickness, and wellness, and treasure healing as the preferred result of the performance of nursing. The second core value, Holistic Caring Process, underscores the holistic nurses’ provision of care that identifies the totality of the person (the connections amid body, mind, feelings, spirit, community, civilization, associations, context, and surroundings). The third core value, Holistic Communication, Therapeutic Environment, and Cultural Diversity, affirms that the holistic nurse establishes the significance of comprehending the health experience of the person. The fourth core value, Holistic Education and Research, asserts that holistic nurses should have an understanding of a broad scope of norms and medical performances, convictions, and principles regarding people, families, groupings, and societies from a diversity of racial, religious, and social settings. The fifth core value, Holistic Nurse self-Care, views self-care, personal insight, and incessant focus as vital instruments of healing that are needed in holistic nursing.
I rank Holistic Caring Process as the most important because it offers an incorporated and all-inclusive approach. Moreover, under this core value, even though physical conditions are treated, holistic nurses also concentrate on the way the person cognitively identifies and emotionally handles the sickness, the impact of the illness on the family, social affiliations, economic resources, the patient’s principles and beliefs, inclinations concerning treatment, and the significance of the experience in the individual’s existence.
Interview
I carried out three different interviews; one with a female cousin called A (names withheld for confidentiality), the second with a male friend, B, and the third with a male colleague, C. Two of the participants, A and C, are nurses while B is a nursing student. I first explained to them that under the second core value, Holistic Caring Process, holistic nurses integrate some modalities (such as stress management) with conventional nursing interventions to enhance healing, tranquility, comfort, and healthiness. I then asked them to explain why they consider or do not deem the core value a significant factor for a nurse to integrate into her/his practice.
All the participants considered it vital for nurses to incorporate the core value in their practice. A said that the core value could assist a nurse to work together with other stakeholders all through the decision-making progression for quality care. B affirmed that through the core value, holistic nurses assume a variety of tasks such as professional clinician, leader, specialist, and an enabler of healing to mention a few, which enhance their provision of care. C stated that the core value enables holistic nurses to establish risk aspects, for instance, lifestyle, inclinations, convictions, and age-associated circumstances that affect healthiness and helps in ensuring a positive outcome of care.
Healing and Cure
Cure occurs to a patient when health professionals provide medicines, treatment, and other health interventions. It is normally the outcome of a sequence of treatments that result in an occurrence of the eradication of a disease. On the contrary, healing denotes an internal course that patients undertake for themselves. Healing reinstates the harmony and peace to the mind and body and could be realized devoid of a cure (Toombs, 2013).
Case
In my clinical practice, I once handled a patient who was diagnosed with diabetes. The patient was greatly traumatized by the diagnosis to a point of attempting suicide. When his friends and family members brought him back, I took him for counseling and later advised them on how to use a glucometer to monitor the blood sugar intensity and insulin injection to normalize the level of glucose in the body. In this case, there was no cure because the patient will have to keep monitoring the glucose level and injecting himself with insulin when necessary. However, there was healing as the patient gained peace, and through monitoring glucose level and having insulin injection, he will lead a normal life.
Description of the Details
Being a patient, A confessed that she is undergoing treatment for schizophrenia, which has managed to alleviate the symptoms successfully, hinder future psychotic occurrences, and reinstate the capability to work and have a meaningful existence. On his part, B stated that his sister had a positive HIV test ten years ago but counseling coupled with taking of antiretroviral drugs have enabled her lead a normal life. Lastly, C stated that his father was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was young, and though drugs have not cured the disease, they have enabled him control seizures and enjoy life.
Conclusion
The Standards of Holistic Nursing are anchored in 5 Core Values of performance and Holistic Caring Process has been ranked in this study as the most important. The three participants in the interview believe that it is imperative for nurses to include the core value in their practice. The study has explained that though there is no cure in cases of diabetes, there could be healing.
References
Dossey, B. M., & Keegan, L. (2012). Holistic nursing (6th ed.). Burlington, Massachusetts, United States: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Jackson, C. (2012). Doing more with less: Using core values and standards of holistic nursing to expand practice in an era of shrinking resources. Holistic nursing practice, 26(5), 238-242.
Toombs, S. K. (2013). The meaning of illness: A phenomenological account of the different perspectives of physician and patient. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media.