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Vision of a Holistic Healthcare System

L. Blair Holston

Metaphysical Nursing, NUR 4114

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A holistic healthcare system focuses on healing patients rather than simply curing a

medical diagnosis. Today’s healthcare system often fails to address the personal needs of

individual patients. Human beings are unique, complex beings with multiple factors affecting

their health; health enncompasses the mind, body, and spirit. Factors like spirituality,

environment, culture, emotions, and relationships are all aspects of a person’s life that contribute

to who they are as a person. These factors combine with a person’s physical and mental health to

make a person’s overall well-being. A holistic healthcare professional acknowledges these

factors and assimilates them to each individual’s plan of care. In order to reach a state of positive

well-being, a person needs to reach equilibrium, meaning that all aspects of their life must be

balanced and in tune with one another. If a person has a discrepancy in one area of their life, they

won’t be able to reach their healthiest state. Since equilibrium is a very personal experience,

everyone’s concept of well-being will differ. Therefore, there is no “one size fits all” treatment

approach in holistic care.

Holism is a way of caring that offers alternative therapies alongside medical treatment.

Holistic healthcare is complementary to medicine. Whenever possible, natural options should be

considered in treatment. For example, if a patient needs more iron in their diet, they can try to

consume foods that have more iron in them. This way the patient can meet their iron

requirements without having to take supplements that can cause side effects like constipation.

Too often patients are prescribed medications to solve one problem, only to cause more problems

with side effects. Natural remedies can provide solutions without the side effects. However,

nurses should use caution in suggesting natural supplements, which can interfere with a person’s

current medication regimen.

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A holistic healthcare system is one that makes their patients feel empowered. Rather than

overwhelm patients with diagnoses, holistic care offers patients a way to take charge of their own

health and make positive, lasting changes in their lives. Patients should be encouraged to engage

in a healthy lifestyle; cessation of smoking, healthy eating habits, stress reduction, and exercise

are all interventions that should be introduced to patients. Nurses should help patients create their

own health goals and come up with a plan that suits the individual.

Establishing a trusting relationship is a key component of holistic nursing. Nurses should

offer themselves to their patients in a way that is non judgemental. Judgement and assumptions

create barriers to healthcare and nurses need to address their patients with empathy and

understanding. Empathetic caring is more helpful than sympathetic caring. Sympathy is simply

feeling sorry for someone else. Empathy is experiencing another person’s pain and suffering with

them.

A nurse’s role is to provide compassion and care to their patients during times of illness.

According to Lydia E. Hall, there are three aspects to nursing: care, cure, and core. Caring is the

primary duty of nurses alone, whereas the cure and core of illness will be addressed with other

members of the healthcare team. The care aspect of nursing involves opening oneself up to the

patient and allowing them to be vulnerable with you. Nurses provide patients with comfort and

compassion to ease the burden of the disease process. Assisting the patient with their ADLs is a

key component of caring as well as providing education and emotional support. As nurses care

for their patients and develop trust, this paves the way for the core aspect of nursing. The core

depends on the individual patient’s personal goals and values related to their diagnosis. A new

diagnosis can be overwhelming for patients and bring about an existential crisis. When patients
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are able to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings, it empowers them and helps them to retain

their identity throughout the disease process. The nurse engages in therapeutic use of self and

relays the patient’s thoughts and feelings with other members of the healthcare team. The cure

involves the administration of medications and medical treatments. Nurses work with physicians,

therapists, and pharmacists in this aspect of care. This area of nursing focuses on the disease or

illness of the patient, rather than their personal identity. Nurses serve as advocates for their

patients by facilitating communication between the patients and providers, and making sure that

all orders are appropriate and safe (George, 2011).

Nurses need to find ways that they can relate to their patients and incorporate their own

experience into their care. This is why it is important for nurses to engage in self-care and

reflection. Self-care is a nurse’s way of making sure that they are fit to care for others; you can’t

take care of others if you can’t even take care of yourself. Despite being experts at caring, nurses

often fail to care for themselves. On top of working long hours, nurses will often skip their

breaks and work overtime. It’s no surprise that nurses have high rates of burnout (find a statistic,

cite it). Sometimes working late or skipping lunch is inevitable, but nurses can find ways to treat

themselves outside of work. It’s important that nurses maintain their own lives and health outside

of work. It’s important for nurses to derive caring behaviors from their own personal history and

life experiences. Once a nurse has reflected upon themselves and accepted their desire to heal,

they can help others and come from a place of empathy.

Moving forward, I will continue to reflect upon myself and realize my strengths and

weaknesses. I will be sure to take care of myself and take moments to myself when I need them.

During patient interactions, I will make sure to be fully present and open myself to them. I will
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make sure to assess the person as an individual and respond with compassion and caring. I would

like to treat each one of my patients individually, recognizing them as the unique beings that they

are. My contributions to healthcare will be done with conscious awareness of my presence in the

patient’s life.
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References

Newman, M. A. (2008) ​Transforming presence: The difference that nursing makes.​ Philadelphia,

PA: F. A. Davis.

George, J. B. (2011) ​Nursing theories: The base for professional nursing practice ​(6th ed.).

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.