In this essay I intend to look at the concept of holism, why it is important, how it is supported in legislation and codes of practice and the possible benefits to the nurse patient relationship.

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In this essay I intend to look at the concept of holism, why it is important, how it is supported in legislation and codes of practice and the possible benefits to the nurse – patient relationship. Due to the word limit the focus is going to be centred around the positive aspects of the approach as apposed to negative critique.

In order to explore the importance of considering the patient holistically, it is imperative that we understand what the word/concept holistic means. Weller (2004, p44) describes holism as a comprehensive approach to health care that encompasses and considers the body, mind and spirit considering all actions and interventions for the patient, while recognising the concept of uniqueness, individualism and the influence of internal and external environmental factors on health.  This can be condensed to suggesting that we should consider the person as a whole in relation to their individual needs. Dryden (1995, p.177) cites that Fitz Perls (1951), based his gestalt approach to psychotherapy on premise that we should take an holistic view in relating to a person in order to help a person grow and ascertain a sense of wholeness. Stevenson, Grieves & Stein-Parbom (2004, p16) suggests that holism is knowing more about a person rather than deciding on a clinical pathway. It could be argued that the holistic approach is a humanistic approach focussing on growth and individualism/wholeness.

The NMC recognises the importance of wholeness and holistic care by specifying in the 2008 code of conduct that we should treat people as individuals and respect their dignity. From this statement alone it is possible to see that holistic care requires a positive regard and requires all practitioners to consider all dimensions of a person. Brown and Libberton (2007, p.99) suggests that an whole person comprises of three dimensions; including physical spiritual and social. We know that these theories and concepts are important as we have seen the merge of the bio-medial, reductionist, model with the psychosocial model to provide a more comprehensive approach to health care and addressing health needs.

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The holistic approach can support a nurse to provide better care for a patient by understanding a patient’s, lifestyle, background, social class, culture, religious/spiritual values and social support and use this information to support recovery and sustained health. This level of engagement will allow the nurse to develop a trust relationship with the patient, allowing a therapeutic relationship to take place. Sherwood (1997, p.40) suggests that therapeutic relationships have an impact on healing patterns that make patients feel better. Sussex and Scourfield (2004, p.306) suggests that not only to people have needs they have ideas about their needs and ...

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