Holistic Nurse – What is a Holistic Nurse in 2024?

Hello Readers, Welcome to another insightful article on the nursing industry!

Today, we will share information about Holistic Nurses, know what Holistic Nurses are, their responsibilities, where they work, and the earning potential that a Holistic Nursing career offers.

By the end of the article, you’ll have all the information you need to get started.

In this article, you will discover about:

• What is a Holistic Nurse?
• Traits of Holistic Nurses?
• What do Holistic Nurses do?
• Where do Holistic Nurses work?
• How much does a Holistic Nurse earn?

Introduction

In healthcare facilities, we see different professionals for different health-related issues.

For example, the American Holistic Nurses Association explains holistic nursing as the Nurse is concerned about the patient’s wellness.

What is a Holistic Nurse?

Holistic Nursing is a way to treat the patients involving their mental, social, environmental, physical, cultural, and religious beliefs.

According to AHNA, the Registered Nurses who choose the career path of Holistic Nurse certification take care of the patient’s well-being as a whole, linking their health to their physical health, emotional, mental, and even the environment around them.

The founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, explained to her fellow Nurses to take care of the patient physically and spiritually to heal them properly.

Nursing careers are based on treating and helping the patients feel better.

However, in holistic nursing, the Nurses are more inclined to take care of the person.

Holistic means taking into account all the factors and situations that affect the person.

For example, the environment and other physical and non-physical factors affect the whole person, the mind, body, emotional well-being, etc.

As per Florence Nightingale, the healing process of a patient is not focused only on a small part of the body but rather considers the whole person.

To become a Holistic Nurse, a Nurse needs to have a BSN or an ADN in Nursing Education.

However, the employers do not prefer Nurses with an Associate Degree only, and they want the candidate to be a Registered Nurse and have passed their NCLEX-RN from their state.

After clearing the licensure exam, the Nurse undergoes rigorous training and should attain an HN-BC Holistic Nurse Degree.

Or the Nurse should get the accreditation of the Baccalaureate Nursing Program, HNB-BC.

The American Holistic Nurses’ credentialing corporation (AHNCC) is responsible for giving the certification in the holistic nursing certification programs.

These programs help the Nurse be more creative in treatment procedures than traditional Nurses.

In nursing school, they are taught unconventional treatment methods along with regular training.

As a result, their Nurse coaching is much more versatile.

They are taught to think out of the box for their patient care and make innovative treatments to help cure the ailments.

To take it further, Holistic Nurses can take up advanced courses.

AHN-BC (Advanced Holistic Nurse Board Certified) and APHN-BC (Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse Board Certified).

With these advanced certifications, the Nurses can learn a lot more practices that they can imply to help their patients with time.

A traditional Nurse has to follow the taught practices in nursing practice strictly.

On the other hand, Hospice Nurse has to use new and innovative methods to help their patients heal.

The methods are often integrative and use more than one way of treating the patient, and the methods can include anything from music to medicine!

Holistic nursing practice doesn’t shy from using alternate forms such as; music, therapy, aromatherapy, meditation, breathing exercises, acupuncture, massages, etc.

Holistic care also teaches the patients to gain insight about self-care to help themselves in the long term.

Compared to traditional nursing, which only revolves around helping the patient solve their issue for a short time.  

Using integrative health strategies has been proven to be beneficial for many patients over time.

This method has also changed the complete lifestyle of a person.

The interventions through various ways to improve health have scientific and physical benefits for the person and those around them.

What Do Holistic Nurses Do

Now that we understand what a Holistic Nurse is, we need to understand what they primarily do.

It is very similar to what Traditional Nurses are trained to help patients get better and feel better.

When certified Holistic Nurse treats a case, they have the leverage to use integrative health methods to help the person heal.

The Holistic Nurse usually treats patients who have more than one medical condition.

Then, they try to heal the problems using less invasive methods.

The best feature of this way of nursing is that patients are more involved in decision-making.

They, along with the holistic nursing who provide nursing care, make the decision of what kind of treatment they think will be best for them.

As Holistic Nurses focus on healing from the inside and out, they tend to make tough decisions, keeping the patients’ preferences and suggestions in mind.

They have even to treat the patient without medicinal involvement; for example, they may have to treat drug abuser patients.

They will plan their stress management and activities so that they don’t feel the need or cravings for drug-like they did before going for treatment.

There are a lot of responsibilities that the Holistic Nurse fulfills.

Some of them are as follows:

• Aromatherapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Acupuncture
• Massage
• Yoga
• Hypnosis
• Wellness coaching
• Lifestyle guidance
• Eastern (herbal) medicine
• Music and arts
• Breathing techniques
• Stress management

Holistic Nurses often conduct education programs to enlighten their patients about their options.

Then, they guide the patients and develop a strategy that works best for the patient.

Holistic Nurses are healthcare professionals who help human beings in any situation.

For example, they help them in birthing centers, hospitals, old age homes, etc.

In addition, a Holistic Health Nurse would be there to provide the person with every possible alternative medicine or treatment.

Holistic Nurses make sure people understand that a calm environment and mental peace are as important for a human being to heal as medicines, etc.

Where Do Holistic Nurses Work?

To put it in simple words holistic nursing definition is; a Nurse who has cleared her Registered Nurse licensure and moves forward toward the holistic path.

They may or may not do the certification.

But it is advised and appreciated if they do the certification.

Being Nurses, you might wonder where they work if they don’t only use the medicine, etc.

A holistic nursing career starts when they get a certificate from AHNCC.

Once they get the certification, they can practice and apply for jobs in many places related to the medical industry or patient care centers.

They usually work full-time if they are done with their studies, but many also work part-time and can be completing their education, etc.

Holistic Nurses can work at any of the following places:

• Hospitals
• Private practices
• Birthing centers
• Teaching science in nursing to upcoming Nurses as Nurse Educators
• Nursing homes
• Clinics
• Remote areas
• Personal Nurses
• Spas
• Wellness centers
• Gym
• Private consultants
• Oncology centers

There are many more places where a Holistic Nurse could be working.

A Nurse Practitioner can be with them to supervise and manage patient care with them.

Mostly, a Holistic Nurse could also be working solely without intervention from any other patient care representative.

What Traits Should a Holistic Nurse have

Being a Nurse and leading a nursing career path, one needs to have a lot of distinctive traits to help their patients.

A Holistic Nurse is someone who needs more of such skills as they will have a very diverse way of treating their patients.

The nursing theory of Holistic Nursing leads them to have much more skills than only an RN Licensed Nurse.

Following are some of the traits needed to be a good Holistic Nurse:

• Be able to see the “whole person” instead of just the problem
• Caring
• Independent
• Fast-acting
• Considerate
• Ready to co-ordinate
• Good listening skills
• Attention to detail
• Empathy
• Self-responsibility
• Spiritual reflection
• Good communication skills
• Integrity
• Treat patients as a human beings
• Ready to consider patients’ preferences
• Open-minded

A good Holistic Nurse requires the above and many more general traits.

These traits make them reliable for the patient, and the patients do not shy away from them.

Instead, they are open and discuss without the fear of being judged.

How Much Do Holistic Nurses Earn

Generally, the salary of a Nurse depends on a lot of factors.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary of a Nurse was $35 per hour in 2019.

However, they have not specifically been able to tell a Holistic Nurse’s salary or annual income until now.

The factors on which the salary determination depends are:

• Experience
• Education
• Area of the healthcare facility
• Responsibilities
• Nurse position

These and many more individual factors contribute to determining the Nurse’s salary.

The salary is also a big factor for the Holistic Nurse deciding which place they want to work.

Once the Nurse has gained experience, the salary increases and the benefits improve.

So the median annual salary is different for different states.

Conclusion on Holistic Nurse

Being a Nurse is a respectable job; the feeling of being able to help a human being and improve their life is worth it.

Holistic nursing is all that and more.

The Holistic Nurse can provide better options for improved living.

They deal with patients with multiple ailments; treating those ailments in the best way possible is the main aim.

For this, they incorporate more than one ways to cure illnesses.

In addition, the advanced training they get help them to bring forth the best possible results.

FAQs on Holistic Nurse