Journal of Holistic Nursing

The term person-centered care (PCC) has been frequently used in the literature, but there is no consensus about its meaning. This article uses Walker and Avants’s method of concept analysis as a framework to analyze PCC. A literature search was completed and data were collected using several search engines (CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane Review). The key words used were “individualized-care,” “person-centered care,” “patient-centered care,” “client-centered care,” and “resident-centered care.” Attributes, antecedents, and consequences of PCC were identified. Empirical referents were provided to measure PCC from the perspective of the person receiving care and finally, a model case provides an exemplar of the concept.

This paper explores the role of story for healing. Specifically, this paper describes story and healing in cultural or whole medical systems, including Latino/Hispanic traditions, Native American/Indigenous traditions, and Homeopathy. In addition, the authors provide a brief overview of story and healing in the nursing and medical literature, and evaluate the value of story in our current practice as holistic nurses. It is important for the holistic nurse to be aware of the role of stories for healing in diverse systems of healthcare. This awareness can help bridge the knowledge gap between cultural or whole medical systems and Western Medicine, thus optimizing the healing environment for the patient, nurse, and other providers of care.

Literature across health care disciplines has come to acknowledge spiritual care as integral to holistic health promotion. However, caregivers often continue to be reluctant to explore the spiritual dimension of health with their clients. In order to help caregivers feel more prepared to offer spiritual care, the author has drawn upon the interdisciplinary literature to develop the T.R.U.S.T. Model for Inclusive Spiritual Care. This article introduces the T.R.U.S.T. Model and its foundational concept of ‘inclusive spiritual care’: relevant, non-intrusive care which tends to the spiritual dimension of health by addressing universal spiritual needs, honoring unique spiritual worldviews, and helping individuals to explore and mobilize factors that can help them gain/re-gain a sense of trust in order to promote optimum healing. The article also describes the T.R.U.S.T. Model’s origins, underlying assumptions, and its non-prescriptive outline for exploring five topics: ‘Traditions’, ‘Reconciliation’, ‘Understandings’, ‘Searching’, and ‘Teachers’. Guidelines are included for using T.R.U.S.T. to enhance holistic health care, with an emphasis on its use in holistic nursing practice.

Purpose: This randomized control trial investigated the relationship between soothability, weight gain, and length of hospital stay in premature infants. Method: Forty-eight preterm infants were randomized into control group or flaxseed pillow treatment group. The pillow group received two 15-minute treatments per day. Treatment consisted of placing a flaxseed-filled pillow on the infants’ upper thorax, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, for the infant’s first 5 days of life. Physiologic measurements were obtained pre- and posttreatment, including temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and pain scores and measures of physical activity. Findings: Infants in the treatment group demonstrated significant decreases in heart rate, respiratory rate, and pain scores compared to infants in the control group. Infants in the treatment group also gained more weight in the first 3 weeks of life and spent more time awake. Discharge weights and length of stay at hospital did not vary between the two groups. Conclusions: The flaxseed pillow is a new method that may assist premature infants to become more soothable and gain weight more rapidly in the first weeks of life. The pillow is inexpensive, easy to use, and not associated with adverse events. Further research is recommended to explore the efficacy of this intervention in other populations.

Purpose: To investigate the spontaneous use of creative arts as a complementary therapy by rural women in the Western United States who are coping with chronic illness. Design: Women to Women Project was an 11-week research-based computer intervention that provided health education and support to rural women with chronic illnesses in an effort to help them better adapt to living with chronic conditions. Method: Through the use of text queries, messages posted to an unprompted, online support and health education forum were examined for references to the spontaneous use of creative arts and their influence as a complementary therapy for dealing with chronic illness. Findings: In three identified themes—coping with pain, relaxation/quality of life, and giving back to others—participants strongly suggested that creative activity was an important strategy for coping with chronic illness and that it contributed to reduced pain and increased overall well-being, regardless of whether it was the expression of a previously learned skill or a practice established after the onset of chronic illness. Conclusion: The use of creative arts and developing art-making interventions could significantly benefit rural individuals coping with chronic illness. Discovering methods of implementing creative arts interventions in rural populations warrants further study.

Purpose of study: The aim of this pilot study was to examine a mind-body-based preventive intervention program and to determine relationships between children’s behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system, stress, and stress reduction after the program. Design of study: Children participated in the program (n = 30) or in a control condition (n = 24). They filled out questionnaires before and after the program and reported their levels of stress before and after each of the five sessions. Method: The program consisted of weekly sessions. Each session incorporated yoga postures, visualization, and social exercises. Breathing techniques were integrated. Findings: Stress reductions were only seen in the intervention group and mainly in children with high BIS—irrespective of their behavioral activation system. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that children with high BIS may benefit from a mind-body-based stress reduction program.