Where are all of the holistic nurses?

Specialties Holistic

Published

I would love for this holistic nursing forum to be more active! I am been so immersed in the holistic/integrative world for the last few years that it is odd to me when I read a lot of the posts in the general nursing forum. It reminds me of how grateful I am to have discovered alternative health.

If you are a holistic nurse, what brought you to the field? What does your current practice look like?

I became involved in holistic nursing and functional medicine almost 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with 3 autoimmune diseases and I was really struggling and very ill for a while. Then I discovered food as medicine and the transformation in my health was remarkable. I went back to school for additional certifications in holistic nutrition and herbalism and now I have a practice nutritional therapy and functional medicine practice.

I'd love to connect with other like-minded nurses!

Specializes in critical care.
Oh my goodness, I feel your pain!!! I'm not "against" conventional medicine as it clearly has a purpose and a place, but I'm frustrated that holistic and conventional can't seem to coexist. I'm an LPN and have worked ambulatory care for 8 years. I want to help patients, I want to educate them, but I feel like my hands are tied, and I'm not allowed to say anything that wouldn't be scripted by the doctor. I see no reason why the knowledge we have as nurses can't be used alongside a holistic approach to help improve lifestyle. If you come up with anything that has been helpful let me know! There are no holistic practices where I live, and I'm pretty sure even if there were, they wouldn't accept my conventional credentials:/

Holistic and conventional DO coexist. What do you believe holistic means, and why would holistic practice be anti-"conventional" credentials?

Holistic means considering the whole person - mental, physical, psychosocial. This, in ADPIE format, is the foundation of nursing practice.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

There is definitely a tendency to rebrand "alternative" healthcare as holistic. I agree that holistic medicine is the cornerstone of nursing practice- and any good clinician, regardless of their degree/license, practices holistic medicine. You can't be a good provider if you aren't holistic in your approach, and I don't know anyone in health care who would disagree with that.

Being a holistic provider does means acknowledging my patient's use of alternative remedies without judgment, and providing risk reduction counseling if needed (like the patient I saw the other day, who was on a potentially toxic dose of vitamin A that was prescribed by her naturopath, apparently in an effort to treat her "yeast allergy.") It definitely means focusing on prevention and health promotion, through diet, exercise, stress reduction and VACCINATION.

Providing holistic, patient centered care does not mean recommending homeopathic remedies or acupuncture, because that is using my position of authority to steer patients towards useless and potentially harmful therapies. Providing holistic care does not mean setting up a supplement shop in your clinic so you can make money off the remedies you recommend to your patients. It certainly does not mean setting aside science and embracing treatment modalities that are based in magical, prescientific ideas about health.

If you feel you aren't able to offer health promotion education in your clinic, then you either a) work in a terrible clinic, which is unfortunately quite possible, or b) the education you want to provide is not backed up by science. I am very curious about what education you want to be able to offer your patients, and why you feel you are unable to do so.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.
Oh my goodness, I feel your pain!!! I'm not "against" conventional medicine as it clearly has a purpose and a place, but I'm frustrated that holistic and conventional can't seem to coexist. I'm an LPN and have worked ambulatory care for 8 years. I want to help patients, I want to educate them, but I feel like my hands are tied, and I'm not allowed to say anything that wouldn't be scripted by the doctor. I see no reason why the knowledge we have as nurses can't be used alongside a holistic approach to help improve lifestyle. If you come up with anything that has been helpful let me know! There are no holistic practices where I live, and I'm pretty sure even if there were, they wouldn't accept my conventional credentials:/

If you're licensed as an RN then you don't have "conventional" credentials, you already have holistic credentials, that's what an RN license involves.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have been a Holistic Nurse since the 90's. I think my Father's death from lung cancer made me curious about what complementary medicine could have offered him.

Allopathic medicine couldn't offer him much.

I used multiple holistic modalities during my own cancer treatment in 2008. I try to help other people living with cancer discover their own path to healing.

I would like to connect and discuss holistic nursing.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Labor & Delivery, Postpartum, Lactation.

What kind of facility do you work at? Sounds very intriguing to me. I'm having a hard time finding holistic services that are looking for an RN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work for a Holistically minded retirement community part time and I have a private practice as an integrative health coach and educator.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Labor & Delivery, Postpartum, Lactation.

Awesome! That's exactly where I would love to work. I'd bring in some yoga practice too...

You're not in central California by chance, are you?! Ha!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have just started working with essential oils and would love to hear more about any classes, certifications & jobs as holistic nurse!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What is important to know if you are looking for employment in the "holistic" nursing field is that today you won't find a listing under "Holistic Nurse Wanted". "Holistic" is how all nurses are trained - to look at the whole person - just like Florence Nightingale did. What happened since her day is that specialization has taken over nursing just like it has with the physician's role.

Today, being a Whole Health trained nurse or Whole Person Health Nurse or a nurse trained with health coaching skills is what you will most likely find being asked for. The healthcare mandates have put a huge focus on disease prevention and patient health education as well as patient advocacy. Many of our nurses are finding that being trained as a patient health educator and advocate, with coaching skills, is what the jobs are looking for. The insurance companies call patient health educators "health coaches" but they are looking for the nurse to be able to educate and facilitate the patients self-care from both a clinical as well as behavioral skill set.

If you want to find a job in what is called "holistic health" field do consider having patient health education, coaching skills along with patient advocacy training. If you go to indeed.com or simplyhired.com and ask for "nurse coach" "patient educator" "nurse educator" "wellness educator nurse" "wellness nurse" "nurse advocate" or any combination thereof you will see where the jobs are in this field.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in critical care.

I am a holistic nurse.

My patient had a fever. I gave him ice and Tylenol.

He has an infection. I gave him antibiotics and probiotics.

He was in pain. I repositioned him and gave him morphine.

When he's less ill, I'll try my best to talk him into a flu vaccine.

He has abusive relatives and a crappy house for PT. He refuses STR and wants nothing more than to sleep in his own bed. We got a home health company that knows him already. He says he isn't being abused. We can't help him with this.

His skin is reddened. We gave him a foley and vitamin D/zinc ointment.

My patient has been sad and anxious. I hold his hand while we reminisce about old days gone by. Stories of my kids give him hope for tomorrow.

I AM A HOLISTIC NURSE. I think homeopathy is junk and I believe vaccination is almost as holistic as it gets in terms of prevention protection of communities.

I am a holistic nurse that believes in evidence-based complimentary modalities. Evidence-based only.

And I'm beating a dead horse so I think maybe I'll bow out now. [emoji23]

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Telemetry.
I am a holistic nurse.

My patient had a fever. I gave him ice and Tylenol.

He has an infection. I gave him antibiotics and probiotics.

He was in pain. I repositioned him and gave him morphine.

When he's less ill, I'll try my best to talk him into a flu vaccine.

He has abusive relatives and a crappy house for PT. He refuses STR and wants nothing more than to sleep in his own bed. We got a home health company that knows him already. He says he isn't being abused. We can't help him with this.

His skin is reddened. We gave him a foley and vitamin D/zinc ointment.

My patient has been sad and anxious. I hold his hand while we reminisce about old days gone by. Stories of my kids give him hope for tomorrow.

I AM A HOLISTIC NURSE. I think homeopathy is junk and I believe vaccination is almost as holistic as it gets in terms of prevention protection of communities.

I am a holistic nurse that believes in evidence-based complimentary modalities. Evidence-based only.

And I'm beating a dead horse so I think maybe I'll bow out now. [emoji23]

Freaking love this post! ♡♡♡

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in critical care.
I have been a Holistic Nurse since the 90's. I think my Father's death from lung cancer made me curious about what complementary medicine could have offered him.

Allopathic medicine couldn't offer him much.

I used multiple holistic modalities during my own cancer treatment in 2008. I try to help other people living with cancer discover their own path to healing.

I would like to connect and discuss holistic nursing.

In my area, we have a community center for those who are older. This place is beautiful! It offers a huge number of services, many of them rather creative, to fill needs for our seniors and/or disabled.

They have an area outside for gardens. Cancer patients and those in remission will meet with a dietitian and will choose optimal produce for their specific cancer (with comorbidities considered) and for this zone. Then they get to create their own garden with help from volunteers (and gloves).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment