What Is Holistic Medicine? What do nurses need to know about Holistic medicine?

 

            What do nurses need to know about holistic medicine in order to help their patients?  I believe that nurses should be as educated as possible to insure the best possibility of healing and growth.  Of course, the number one way to treat disease and infection from a medical point of view is prevention, but nurses know that is not always possible. They also know that every patient is different. Therefore, they should consider every alternative to healing.  They know they need to consider every possibility and take each patient's different beliefs, emotional needs, and personal needs into consideration.  While most people choose to use traditional medicine, some choose a different approach: an approach known as holistic or alternative medicine.     

            Medicine is meant to relieve or treat pain, so what can be called medicine?  When most people think of medicine they think of traditional medicine.  Some may think of holistic medicine as well, but the two have many differences. This difference is what led to the split in mind and body (Bendelow).

            Holistic medicine takes the person as a whole into consideration.  It looks at the mental, physical, and emotional needs.  It only uses surgery and drugs if there is no other alternative.  The preferred healing way is natural (holistic med.com).  Another definition is treating of the whole person, including the social aspects instead of just the symptoms of the disease (Grant “Holism, and What it Means").  Another definition of holistic medicine is that it is “based on the concept that diseases are caused by an imbalance in emotional outlook, the environment and a person's overall health" (Edleman).

            According to Wendy Harris, holistic therapies that are derived from traditional medicine can be broken up into five categories: “biologically-based,” “body-based,” “alternative medical systems,” "mind-body," and “energy medicine.”  “biologically-based” are things like herbs and vitamins.  “Body-based” includes things like message.  “Mind-body” includes prayer and meditation. “Alternative medical systems” are things like Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of preventative healthcare.  This includes things like acupuncture and homeopathy.  Finally, “energy medicine” would be, for example, therapeutic touch.

            There are many different kinds of holistic medication ranging from natural herbs to acupuncture and chiropractics. In fact, the number of doctors practicing holistic medicine is growing rapidly.  In 1998, there were slightly more than 50,000 chiropractors in the United States.  It has been estimated that by 2013, that number will triple. 

            Naturopaths and accupuncturists are also growing rapidly in number(Kemper).  Holistic medicine can be used to treat many things.  It can be used in pediatrics, to help quit habits, in anti-aging, and much more.

            Some people tend to break up medical care into two types: "yin" and "yang."  “Yang” is the current way in which the medical system works.  This includes time, touch, talk, and various other therapies.  According to Kathi Kemper, “yin” will be the way that will be used in the future. When talking about “yin,”  we are talking about looking at ourselves as a whole.  This means listening to patients, and making sure they lead a healthy lifestyles.  Some also divide it into interdependent parts referred to as mind, body, and spirit or physical, mental, and emotional (Kemper).

 

 



 

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