How To Become A Holistic Nurse in 2024

Hello Readers, Welcome to another enlightening article that will guide you through the path of becoming a Holistic Nurse!

This article gives you all the basics on How To Become A Holistic Nurse, the requirements, steps to follow, resources required, and more about Holistic Nursing Practice.

After reading this article, you’ll understand the process of becoming a Holistic Nurse.

Here is an overview of the things we will cover in today’s article:

• Stepwise guide to becoming a Holistic Nurse
• Resources to help you pursue a Holistic Nurses career
• Certification required for Holistic Nursing
• Holistic Nurse career outlook

Without further ado, let us help you build a rewarding career in healthcare and provide patient care that heals them inside out!

Stepwise Guide to How to Become a Holistic Nurse

A career in Holistic Nursing is lucrative and highly rewarding, especially for individuals who love to deal with patients and take self-care practice to the next level via different healing modalities and integrative health and therapy.

This is why it takes a lot of learning, hard work, and effort to build a Holistic Nursing career.

If you are stuck and do not know where to start, here is a comprehensive stepwise guide to help you become a Holistic Nurse Practitioner.

Holistic Nurse Requirements – Learn what it takes to become one

Holistic Nursing is different from traditional nursing.

It involves patient care that extends beyond their physical health and treatment.

 A Holistic Nurse Practitioner is responsible for the patient’s emotional, mental, social, and physical well-being.

It requires a certain set of skills and nursing education to become a Registered Nurse in the field of Holism.

And if you fail to tick all the boxes in the “eligibility criteria” department, you can say goodbye to your Holistic Nurse career.

So, before we educate you about the steps to become a Holistic Nurse, assess your skills as an individual and comprehend if you can compete amongst the other Holistic healthcare professionals:

Here is what it takes, aside from the education and clinical skills, to become one:

• Abide by the “core values” of Holistic Nursing
• Be empathetic
• Responsibility
• Ability to explore diverse care opportunities
• Compassionate and understanding
• Independent
• Integrity
• Caring toward the patients and themselves
• Passionate about  Nursing Practice
• Actively present and mindful of inpatient dealings
• Adaptive to new skills and blending techniques
• Problem-solving and critical thinking skills
• Ability to show team spirit- work well with other healthcare professionals
• Reflect spiritual knowledge
• Ability to see the “whole” person
• Pay attention to details
• A good listener
• Believe in “physical well-being follows the healing of mind and the soul”
• Possess good communication skills

If you feel that you lack these skills, it will be difficult to own up to them.

Stop now, and change your career.

If not, keep reading and get one step closer to your career in Holistic Nursing Practice.  

Attend a Nursing School

You cannot pursue your career in holistic care if you do not acquire a bachelor’s degree from an accredited nursing program.

You need to have a BSN – Bachelor of Science in Nursing or an ASN – Associate of Science in Nursing to become a Registered Nurse (also called ADN- Associate Degree in Nursing).

For BSN, many colleges and universities offer a four-year nursing program.

At the same time, ASN takes about two to three years.

Apart from these two degrees, there is a three-year diploma program for nursing offered by some (but not all) nursing schools.

These three allow the candidates to leverage entry-level positions.

BSN holders are preferred over the other two.

If you are passionate about your nursing practice, you can also opt for a master’s nursing degree such as MSN – Master of Science in Nursing to ace your career.

Moreover, the higher your degree and the more skilled you are, the more chances of landing good jobs with better pay and incentives.

Pass the NCLEX-RN Exam

Now that you have completed your educational nursing programs, it is essential to pass the NCLEX-RN examination to acquire the licensure and work as a Registered Nurse.

This RN license is the last hurdle in the “education requirements” that you need to cross successfully.

Gain Clinical Experience

Even though holistic nursing does not require any minimum experience at the bedside, unlike any other traditional nursing specialty, however, it is important to gain clinical and bedside experience before you become a Holistic Nurse Practitioner.

The hands-on experience allows healthcare professionals to ace their nursing skills and become well-versed in self-care and patient-care routines.

Holistic Nurses can work full-time or part-time in a variety of healthcare facilities and provide nursing care, including:

• Private clinics
• Patient’s home
• Medical day spas
• Birthing centers
• Wellness centers
• Gyms
• Hospitals
• Academic centers
• And, even as Private Consultants

You can practice your nursing skills even if you are enrolled in any of the holistic nursing programs – check with the institute or hospital you are allowed to do so.

Holistic Nursing Care Certifications

It is not mandatory to earn a Holistic Nurse certificate program.

Still, it can do wonders for your nursing career, especially if you do not plan to pursue a Master’s degree in holistic care.

The American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation – AHNCC grants the certificates to the eligible candidates.

The board offers four certificate programs with almost the same eligibility criteria.

You need to have an unrestricted and active RN license, 2000 hours of full-time working as a Holistic Nurse, and 48 hours of Continuing Nursing Education or CNE to get board certification.

If you fulfill the requirements, you can opt for the following:

• Advanced Holistic Nurse Board Certified – (AHN-BC)
• Holistic Nurse Board Certified – (HN-BC)
• Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse Board Certified – (APHN-BC)
• Holistic Nurse Baccalaureate Board Certified – (HNB-BC)

Continuing Education

The healthcare industry undergoes frequent procedural changes as medicine, and patient care needs evolve.

For every RN to upkeep their nursing practice, it is important to continue their nursing education throughout their entire career.

As a Holistic Nurse, you cannot take a “one-size-fits-all” approach for every patient, every time.

To renew your nursing license, you are required to complete certain CEU hours.

Moreover, you can gain certifications in therapies and techniques that will complement your nursing skills.

Some of the skills that a holistic nurse can explore in continuing education are:

• Acupuncture
• Hydrotherapy
• Massage therapy
• Hypnotherapy
• Dietary coaching
• Advanced nursing interventions

As there is no age to learn, you can top up your nursing career in holistic care with as many skills and advanced education as you want.

Holistic Nurse Resources to Help You!

If you are looking for authentic resources to become a Holistic Nurse, you can start with the American Holistic Nurses Association – AHNA.

It was started back in 1983 to bring a new perspective to traditional nursing methods.

The president, Lorenz Miller, affirms Nurses can belong to any facility or organization.

And also acquire non-nursing memberships for certain fields, including massage therapies, yoga, gyms, and more.

To learn more about this association, you can attend its yearly conference and connect with like-minded healthcare personnel across the US.

You can also leverage some other resources to learn more about a holistic nursing career, including:

• Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine
• National League for Nursing
• Journal of Holistic Medicine
• American Nurses Association

Holistic Nurse Career Outlook

This career is not only emotionally but financially rewarding as well.

As per the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Holistic Nurses earn almost the same annual income as Registered Nurses – around $80,000.

And as you advance in your career, upgrading your skills and education, you can earn up to $99,620 annually.

Conclusion

If you love helping and caring for people, take the first step toward your Holistic Nursing career today.

You can provide state-of-the-art patient care that does not stop even after the physical symptoms and pain disappears.

Moreover, Holistic Nurses can enjoy progressive job prospects, and it is estimated that the field of holistic nursing will grow by a whopping 20%.

So get into it while Holistic Nurses are still highly in-demand!

FAQs

References 

What Is A Holistic Nurse? (wgu.edu)

Holistic Nursing: Career Overview – Nightingale College

4 Steps to Becoming a Holistic Nurse | Salary & Requirements