When speaking about health care, many people associate it with curing. However, curing is only a part of the necessary care provided by healthcare professionals (Quinn, 2014). The major outcome of the American healthcare system is to contribute to the development of a healthy society where people’s physical, psychological and emotional well-being is ensured. Nurse healers can help achieve this goal. There are several definitions of the term. It is possible to define a nurse healer as a professional nurse supporting people’s “growth and experience of wholeness through an integration of body, mind, and spirit and/or who assists in the recovery from illness or in the transition to peaceful death” (Dossey & Luck, 2015, p. 703). Clearly, the areas of nurse healers’ concern are physical, emotional, and psychological.
Some Features of the Nursing Practice
Some practitioners still focus on treatment plans and the physical conditions of the patient. The nurse healer focuses on the emotional aspect as it can help healthcare professionals find the key to the patients’ trust. Hines, Wardell, Engebretson, Zahourek, and Smith (2015) stress that the focus on emotions is instrumental in the development of proper relationships with the patient, which are essential for the healing process.
Dossey and Luck (2015) also stress that the development of relationships between the nurse and the patient is crucial. The patient should trust the nurse to share their concerns, fears, hopes, wishes, and so on. Patients should also feel that they will be understood. The nurse healer should be able to understand patients’ needs and emotions to find the necessary words and ways to support them and encourage to continue their struggle (Lipinski, 2017).
Personal Characteristics and Behaviors
Being a nurse healer is a challenging task, and it may seem impossible to some people. Dossey and Luck (2015) note that the nurse healer has certain characteristic features. Empathy is one of the major qualities of the nurse healer. Apart from this, nurse healers should be patient, cheerful, sociable, optimistic, and committed to lifelong learning.
However, there are various methods and strategies nurses use to achieve the goals mentioned above. Lifelong learning is one of these techniques (Dossey & Luck, 2015). Nurse healers also use evidence-based approach and review the most recent studies to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge. For instance, Dossey and Luck (2015) provide a framework that can help nurse healers provide high-quality care and facilitate patients’ healing. The framework includes such areas as life balance, life satisfaction, relationships, spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, environmental and health responsibility.
One of the essential areas of nurse healers’ is their own self-care. Blum (2014) emphasizes that self-care is vital for nurse healers who can replenish their energy and remain active, positive, and professional. A large portion of self-care is also associated with the spiritual component. This is specifically true for a nurse working with terminally ill patients. Nurse healers have to find strength to address patients’ needs, encourage them to continue their day-to-day struggle with pain, and find peace. Nursing professionals should also be able to recover from the loss of a patient. As has been mentioned above, lifelong learning is essential.
It is necessary to stress that some behaviors are characteristic features of the nurse healer. First, these professionals maintain a positive attitude to everything and everyone (Dossey & Luck, 2015). They use humor as a method to address difficulties. Importantly, nurse healers speak the language of their patients. One of the most important components of this behavior is paying attention to cultural peculiarities as well as the patient’s background. To ensure effective use of the strategies mentioned above, nurse healers participate in various discussions, conferences, and so on. Nurse healers also attend various courses. For example, Lipinski (2017) notes that Reiki training can be very effective.
Apart from self-development and the focus on the emotional aspect, the nurse healer also pays significant attention to training patients (Quinn, 2014). It is not enough to explain the reason for taking this or that pill. The nurse healer should teach the patient live outside the healthcare facility and enjoy their life. The nurse healer also collaborates closely with the patient’s relatives and caregivers. Furthermore, the nurse healer understands that the community plays an important role in the healing process. Therefore, the nurse healer should collaborate with some representatives of the community to ensure their involvement. Finally, the nurse healer is always eager to share knowledge and encourage other healthcare professionals to become healers as well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible to note that the nurse healer is the key to the success of the entire healthcare system. The major qualities the nurse healer should have include being empathetic, optimistic, cheerful, ready to learn, and so on. Nurse healers focus on the development of relationships with patients, their relatives, as well as the community. The communication with other healthcare professionals is another type of behavior typical of nurse healers. These professionals always seek for more details and try to encourage others to adopt the concept of healing rather than focus on just curing.
References
Blum, C. A. (2014). Practicing self-care for nurses: A nursing program initiative. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(1).
Dossey, B. M., & Luck, S. (2015). Self-assessments. In B. M. Dossey, L. Keegan, C. C. Barrere, & M. A. B. Helming (Eds.), Holistic nursing: A handbook for practice (pp. 703-717). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Hines, M. E., Wardell, D. W., Engebretson, J., Zahourek, R., & Smith, M. C. (2015). Holistic nurses’ stories of healing another. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 33(1), 27-45.
Lipinski, K. (2017). Enhancing nursing practice with Reiki.
Quinn, J. F. (2014). The integrated nurse: Way of the healer. In M. J. Kreitzer & M. Koithan (Eds.), Integrative nursing (pp. 33-47). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.