A healthier you using complementary therapies

Nursing uses caring modalities, including those that impact upon the mind and body, to help patients feel better and be more available to the healing process. Florence Nightingale(1859) noted, “What nursing has to do… is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him,” often commenting on nurses’ abilities to positively impact upon a patient’s state of wellness and the reparative process by addressing the interrelationship of environments, events, and human beings. Regarding the mind-body connection, Ms. Nightingale observed that, “Volumes are now written and spoken upon the effect of the mind upon the body...but I wish a little more was thought of the effect of the body on the mind."

American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA, 1998) defines holistic nursing as “all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal.”

A nursing theorist to early recognize holistic nursing as a nursing science, Dr. Dolores Krieger, PhD, RN, produced groundbreaking work on the dynamics of healing and Therapeutic Touch (TT). Dr. Krieger identified that the human body extends an energy field several inches to several feet from the body. Illness creates disturbances or blockages in the vital energy field. Using hands to sense the blockage/disturbance, TT practitioners remove the disturbance and rebalance energy to restore health.

Complementary modalities have five categories: Mind-Body Practices, Manipulative/BodyBased Practices, Energy-Based Practices, Herbal Therapies, and Nutritional Supplements. The following examples of effectiveness of various practices apply to general practice categories, but, not necessarily, to each of the different techniques. — Karen A. Ballard, MA, RN, FAAN, Nurse Consultant specializing in professional nursing issues and health care policy.