Day in the life of a Holistic Nurse?

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Hi everybody!

I have been accepted to nursing school and am supposed to start in about a month. However, I'm very close to not going through with it. I work as a CNA right now and, between that and my anxiety disorder, I've realized that my health can't handle high-stress or fast-paced jobs, or having people's lives in my hands.

However, I just heard about holistic nursing, and it sounds like basically everything I'm interested in (music, counseling, nutrition, science, spirituality, etc.), but I can't find any descriptions of a typical "day in the life" is. I would love to have any info so I can make an informed career decision. I'm trying to decide if I should stick with nursing school so that after I graduate I can become a holistic nurse -- any descriptions of what it's like would be a total life saver!

Thanks so much!

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

I think the answer really depends on what you mean by holistic. If you mean treating the patient as a person, addressing not just their symptoms but the underlying medical, psychosocial, cultural, and economic issues, then you will find examples of "a day in the life" all over this board. Every good health care provider strives for a holistic approach, and I'd be happy to talk about how I use structure my work to achieve this.

However-if by holistic you mean utilizing "alternative medicine," well then you have come to the right place because I've got lots to say on the subject-as a midwife who used to prescribe homeopathic pulsatilla for mastitis and counsel my patients against vaccination, and who now prefers piperacillin and sings the praises of inoculation :) Holistic means exploring strategies to deal with the life stressors that make it hard for my patient to quit smoking, and helping an unemployed woman without a car figure out how to manage her new diagnosis of diabetes, with 200 dollars of food stamps and only a bodega and a McDonalds within walking distance. It also means educating my patients on the benefits of vaccines and prescribing appropriate medication- nothing unholistic about a little Bicillin when you have syphilis lol, especially if it comes with a bag of condoms and a referral for PreP (when appropriate) ;)

I've long since discarded my homeopathic toolkit and my anti-vax pamphlets, and I am decidedly more holistic now than I was when I practiced within that belief system.

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Specializes in Telemetry.
I think the answer really depends on what you mean by holistic. If you mean treating the patient as a person, addressing not just their symptoms but the underlying medical, psychosocial, cultural, and economic issues, then you will find examples of "a day in the life" all over this board. Every good health care provider strives for a holistic approach, and I'd be happy to talk about how I use structure my work to achieve this.

However-if by holistic you mean utilizing "alternative medicine," well then you have come to the right place because I've got lots to say on the subject-as a midwife who used to prescribe homeopathic pulsatilla for mastitis and counsel my patients against vaccination, and who now prefers piperacillin and sings the praises of inoculation :) Holistic means exploring strategies to deal with the life stressors that make it hard for my patient to quit smoking, and helping an unemployed woman without a car figure out how to manage her new diagnosis of diabetes, with 200 dollars of food stamps and only a bodega and a McDonalds within walking distance. It also means educating my patients on the benefits of vaccines and prescribing appropriate medication- nothing unholistic about a little Bicillin when you have syphilis lol, especially if it comes with a bag of condoms and a referral for PreP (when appropriate) ;)

I've long since discarded my homeopathic toolkit and my anti-vax pamphlets, and I am decidedly more holistic now than I was when I practiced within that belief system.

Because using scientific - evidence based practices is decidedly *not* mutually exclusive to helping our patients in all areas of life as appropriate. Cayenne gave some excellent examples of helping her patients holistically while still using EBP.

And just because we see the obvious benefits of antibiotics and immunizations doesn't mean we don't also see the benefits of proper nutrition, managing stress, getting exercise, and using modalities such as meditation, yoga, and therapeutic massage.

My first degree is in Recreational Therapy and we were all about the holistic approach - mind, body, spirit. It was easy to put that idea into my education as a nurse, but many areas of nursing leave little time to actually practice it as we would like. Which is a shame, because it is an important part of nursing.

*as an aside, Cayenne, just want to say that I love that you work with Planned Parenthood. Such a vital organization that doesn't always get the respect it so richly deserves. ♡♡♡

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Holistic care is an integral part of nursing, there are no non-holistically trained nurses. Holistic care refers to treating the whole patient in all aspects of their health needs, using a wide range of modalities based on the patient's preferences, needs, limitations, etc.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

OP, can you tell us in what context you "heard" about holistic nursing? As PP have said, we all practice some degree of holistic care but I don't believe that there is such a thing as a purely holistic RN.

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

*as an aside, Cayenne, just want to say that I love that you work with Planned Parenthood. Such a vital organization that doesn't always get the respect it so richly deserves. ♡♡♡

:inlove: Thank you for the warm fuzzies!

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