Holistic Approach to the Practice of Nursing Essay

Introduction

Holistic care is a model of patient care, which can be regarded as core to the science of nursing in general. According to Zamanzadeh, Jasemi, Valizadeh, Keogh, & Taleghani (2015), “the philosophy behind holistic care is based on the idea of holism which emphasizes that for human beings the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that mind and spirit affect the body” (p. 214). Based on this, a holistic approach to the practice of nursing implies behaviors that show the view on a patient as a whole and the acknowledgment of interdependence among various environmental and individual factors, as well as their influence on health outcomes. Although a large body of research provides evidence verifying multiple beneficial effects of holistic nursing on both patient outcomes and professional practice, in many hospitals, nurses face distinct obstacles to the implementation of this model. One such barrier is the lack of understanding of the concept of holism (Zamanzadeh et al., 2015). Therefore, in the given paper, the conceptual-theoretical-empirical (CTE) structure aimed to facilitate the practice of holistic care will be developed and evaluated.Holistic Approach to the Practice of Nursing Essay

Conceptual-Theoretical-Empirical Linkages

According to Fawcett (2013), theoretical components of the CTE structure are directly derived from the propositions of the conceptual framework, which is selected to guide the practice. Since the holistic care model is used in the present paper, the suggested middle-range theory concepts will include patient-centered care and holism, which refers to the integral parts of a person as the mind-and-body unity: physical, social, mental, and spiritual aspects of being. In their turn, the suggested theoretical concepts can be translated in such practices (sub-concepts) as transpersonal nurse-patient relationships/communication, promotion of self-care, medical interventions and complementary treatment methods, and community social/family support, which will be consequently measured through empirical indicators. The empirical component of the CTE structure “encompasses the research instruments or practice tools that are selected to measure the middle-range theory concepts” (Fawcett, 2013, p. 189). Empirical indicators for the selected theory concepts are listed in the table below.Holistic Approach to the Practice of Nursing Essay