Allyson posted
disscussion post need a title in bold before discussion post:
Curing versus healing from my perspective are two different concepts, although they both are relatable to holistic medicine. Curing is solely focused on biomedical models to alleviate the signs and symptoms of a particular disease within the human body or a population (Torres, 2021). However, from a holistic standpoint, a healthy immune system possesses the ability to self-cure without intervention. An example of this is tumor development; while some tumors can overtake the immune system and become symptomatic to the point of needing conventional medicine, a healthy immune system consistently intervenes and destroys the tumor (Gejman et al., 2018).
Healing reflects a deep state of multidimensional well-being within the whole person, to include the mind, body, spirit and soul system (Blaszko Heming et al., 2022). In this case, the nurse guides a patient through caring practices and personalized interventions. This allows the individual to develop a set of self-care practices to correct imbalances within the system, and in some cases, mitigate the effects of physical illness. It is my personal belief that an individual engaged in healing practice has the power to overcome suffering in any facet of life.
In my short time as a nurse, I have definitely witnessed how human caring can impact healing. The biggest impact I have observed is when the entire team is able to collaborate, connect with the patient, and reinforce the daily care plan. When I worked on a post-surgery unit, we had some patients who were discouraged as their level of mobility quickly declined to the point where they needed rehab to walk again. Some of these patients were used to walking or running several miles a day, so they were physically and mentally defeated during the first couple of days of their inpatient stay. In many cases, nurses were tasked with encouraging these patients to heal, starting with therapeutic communication and motivation to move. However, this process was much more powerful and less fragmented when the entire team provided the patient with a unified approach to care.
As for biomedical and holistic paradigms, the differences relate to how health is regulated, and who is in control of the regulation process. In the biomedical model, a practitioner specifically targets the signs and symptoms of a single condition or disease to restore health and increase survival (Rocca & Anjum, 2020). In short, it is focused on a small part of the problem, as opposed to the whole. The nurses role in the biomedical model is limited to a narrowed scope of symptom management and carrying out order sets for a single diagnosis. Holistic care is built upon establishing a nurse-patient relationship in order to enable healing of the whole system. The nurses role is expanded in holistic caring and empowers the patient to identify personalized interventions that address all areas of mind-body-wellness. In this case, the nurse uses their knowledge of caring and healing principles to aid patients down the pathway of self-healing.
In the context of holistic ethics, nurses must participate regularly in self-discovery and reflection to develop a sense of right or wrong, while also recognizing that this is not applicable as a social construct. The general sense is to create a baseline for oneself in order to appreciate the value system of others. When we add spirituality into the process, holistic nursing principles include continually assessing our patients to ensure we are serving the whole person. Additionally, I have found that nurses sometimes have to spend additional time with patients to disconnect any religious associations with spirituality. Instead, the focus is on helping patients reconnect to the overall driving force within their individual universe. In these instances, nurses are better able to navigate within ethical principles to “do no harm” along with gaining an understanding of spirituality as a highly personal, complex human process.
Each post must cite and reference at least one peer-reviewed source (a journal article published within the last 5 years) Grade rubric need to have in disscussion Points from other participants clearly built upon and/or refuted. Promotes interaction, asks questions, and/or deepens the discussion. also they did a great job on their post
