Holistic - Concept Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Holistic - Concept Analysis - Essay Example The American Holistic Nurses’ Association (AHNA), 1994, explains health as â€Å"the maintenance of harmony and balance among body, mind, and spirit† (White, 2005, p.32). Through a process of continuous adaptation, the body endeavors to achieve balance or stability termed as ‘homeostasis’ among these factors. Internal physiological homeostasis is a balance of the body’s fluids. It is crucial for nurses to understand how the combining of all aspects of a person’s life help clients through healing processes. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper to undertake a concept analysis of the term ‘holistic’ through an integrated literature review, by identifying the attributes of the concept, and by illustrating the concept through a model case with supporting rationale. The Concept of ‘Holistic’ The holistic approach involves the whole picture. The Merriam-Webster (2011) dictionary defines holistic as concerned with whol es or complete systems rather than with the analysis, treatment, or separation into parts. Thus, holistic medicine relates to the treatment of both mind and body, while holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system. Further, the complete wholeness of something is much greater than the total sum of its component parts, and cannot be explained by examining each of its separate parts (Encyclo, 2011). The use of a holistic approach to treatment is gradually being used in combination with mainstream methods of patient care. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to examine holistic modalities of treatment and patient care. According to the National Institutes of Health, holistic care takes into consideration the whole person â€Å"including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects† (White, 2005, p.32). The main purpose of examining holistic care is to facilitate the integration of validated therapies into general patient care. The nurse using the holistic approach enables the patient to attain the optimal state for healing to take place. Further, as an instrument of healing, the holistic nurse healer facilitates the patient’s growth towards wholeness of mind, body and spirit. Holistic nursing calls for â€Å"deeper levels of commitment, compassion, love, and caring† (Dossey & Keegan, 2009, p.xv). According to Guzzetta (1998), holistic nursing is composed of caring, spiritualit, synchronicity, expanded consciousness, culture, environment and several other factors. Holistic care aims to heal the whole person using art and science to activate the innate healing potential within individuals, thus empowering the patient (Dunning, 2009). The Attributes that Define the Concept of ‘Holistic’ The holistic means of patient care that are used in nursing include biofeedback, exercise and movement, goal-setting, humor and laughte r, imagery, journaling, massage, play therapy, prayer, and therapeutic touch (White, 2005). The holistic model of nursing also has other attributes including a search for patterns and causes instead of treatment of symptoms of any disease; patient care is integrated and related to the entire patient, rather than specialized care. The emphasis is on human values rather than on efficiency (Dossey, 1997). Further, the nurse’s caring forms an essential component of healing; pain and disease are considered to be valuable signals of