The nurse as holistic health practitioner: expanding the role again

A quiet revolution in health care is currently spreading across the country. Many nurses are actively engaged in the practice of holistic health as this model of health care delivery joins the medical model. If this new direction in health care is followed, more nurses will be re-educating themselves in a way that allows them to expand their view of the patient to include acknowledging the interaction among body, mind, and spirit. This means researching and learning about such things as energy fields of the body and methods of using one's own mind as an instrument of healing. As nurses, we will also need to rethink what the business of helping people with their health problems is all about. A holistic health model provides nurses with an opportunity to be creative and efficient in helping others heal themselves.