Holistic care refers to approaches and interventions that address the needs of the whole person: body, mind, emotion, and spirit. Consider the following case study:
You are caring for a first-time mother in a health clinic. While assessing the woman, you notice she is becoming visibly upset. When you ask, she notes that her mother, with whom she was very close, died last year and that she really would have loved to have shared this pregnancy with her. You empathize with the patient, as your own mother just died 6 months ago. She also notes that she and her partner have been bickering a lot lately on top of her feeling generally sore, tired, and overwhelmed.
Define holistic care in your own words. Describe four ways you can implement a holistic nursing approach to care and facilitate healing. In addition, you may consider the intersection of holistic care and caritas principles from Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring/Caring Science