Healing: the journey from concept to nursing practice

2008

This work is dedicated to the memory of Cale Moore, my soul mate, and my parents-Eunice and Edward Waters. The pandimensional presence of these beautiful and powerful beings is a continuing source of comfort, strength, and inspiration to me. v Mary Donna Piazza painted a picture of me and the friends and colleagues who supported me through this lengthy process; underneath the picture it reads: It Takes a Village to Finish a Dissertation. Absolutely true. My village of supporters is very dear. Patricia Romick is the mayor of my village. She has been a major support from the time I decided to pursue a doctorate, through a serious personal illness of my own and through Cale's terminal illness. She's been a counselor, nurse, cook, and most of all friend. By the way, Patricia knows quite a bit about creating a healing environment. Dr Belinda Gore and Dr. Connie Silva both provided healing interventions when I was in great need. Mary Donna and Eddie Hunter stepped in and rescued me from a housing catastrophe during the time I was completing my dissertation; I am pretty sure my house would have been condemned if they hadn't. My colleagues at work were wonderful. David Marshall, my Chief Nurse, supported my completion in a myriad of ways. Cheryl Day, Ruby Jensen, and Poldi Tschirch, fellow DONs, covered specific aspects of my role responsibilities so that I could take time off and concentrate on my dissertation. In addition, Cheryl cheered for me, Ruby pushed me when I needed it, and Poldi commiserated with me-the three stooges approach (think about it). The rest of my peers (Jennifer, Bud, and Susan) tolerated the problems that came from my absence and cheered me on. The Nursing Practice and Professional Advancement Team and the Educational Resource Team were fantastic. As their Director, I counted on them to deliver our services; they never let me down. As my friends and colleagues, I counted on their support; they never let me down. Linda Bartlett expanded her operations scope and kept us all on track. In the background, I felt the constant support of my YaYa sisters

Advances in Nursing Science, 2008

Wholeness, consciousness, and caring are 3 critical concepts singled out and positioned in the disciplinary discourse of nursing to distinguish it from other disciplines. This article is an outgrowth of a dialogue among 4 scholars, 3 who have participated extensively in work aimed at synthesizing converging points in nursing theory development. It proposes a unified vision of nursing knowledge that builds on their work as a reference point for extending reflection and dialogue about the discipline of nursing. We seek for an awakening of a higher/deeper place of wholeness, consciousness, and caring that will synthesize new ethical and intellectual forms and norms of "ontological caring literacy" to arrive at a unitary caring science praxis. We encourage the evolution of a mature caring-healing-health discipline and profession, helping affirm and sustain humanity, caring, and wholeness in our daily work and in the world.

2008

This work is dedicated to the memory of Cale Moore, my soul mate, and my parents-Eunice and Edward Waters. The pandimensional presence of these beautiful and powerful beings is a continuing source of comfort, strength, and inspiration to me. v Mary Donna Piazza painted a picture of me and the friends and colleagues who supported me through this lengthy process; underneath the picture it reads: It Takes a Village to Finish a Dissertation. Absolutely true. My village of supporters is very dear. Patricia Romick is the mayor of my village. She has been a major support from the time I decided to pursue a doctorate, through a serious personal illness of my own and through Cale's terminal illness. She's been a counselor, nurse, cook, and most of all friend. By the way, Patricia knows quite a bit about creating a healing environment. Dr Belinda Gore and Dr. Connie Silva both provided healing interventions when I was in great need. Mary Donna and Eddie Hunter stepped in and rescued me from a housing catastrophe during the time I was completing my dissertation; I am pretty sure my house would have been condemned if they hadn't. My colleagues at work were wonderful. David Marshall, my Chief Nurse, supported my completion in a myriad of ways. Cheryl Day, Ruby Jensen, and Poldi Tschirch, fellow DONs, covered specific aspects of my role responsibilities so that I could take time off and concentrate on my dissertation. In addition, Cheryl cheered for me, Ruby pushed me when I needed it, and Poldi commiserated with me-the three stooges approach (think about it). The rest of my peers (Jennifer, Bud, and Susan) tolerated the problems that came from my absence and cheered me on. The Nursing Practice and Professional Advancement Team and the Educational Resource Team were fantastic. As their Director, I counted on them to deliver our services; they never let me down. As my friends and colleagues, I counted on their support; they never let me down. Linda Bartlett expanded her operations scope and kept us all on track. In the background, I felt the constant support of my YaYa sisters

2018

Healing as a concept, has multifarious manifestations and can be applied to a broad range of modalities and situations and, within each one, subjective interpretations often dictate its meaning. The concept of healing is almost impossible to encapsulate in one descriptor as healing can occur on even the most subtle and unobservable levels and when least or not expected. The original meaning of the word healing comes from the old-English term haelen, meaning ‘wholeness’ and refers to the process of moving toward a desired wholeness or achievement of cohesion (Firth et al: 2015). If we accept the premise that the original meaning of the word healing is inextricably linked to wholeness then it makes sense to determine what wholeness represents and investigate all the elements which contribute to wholeness otherwise we do not know in totality how healing applies.

Journal of Patient Experience, 2016

In order to understand a patient’s healing experience it is essential to understand the elements that they, the patient, believes contributed to their healing. Previous research has focused on symptom reducers or contributors through environment such as stress. A person’s experience of healing happens over time not instantaneous. Therefore, in this study, the interviews with patients happened after forty-eight hours of hospitalization. This mixed methods study describes the experiences of seventeen inpatients from two healthcare systems using a phenomenological approach combined with evidence based design evaluation methods to document the setting. The qualitative data was analyzed first for reoccurring themes then further explored and defined through quantitative environmental observations. The seventeen patients defined healing as “getting better/well.” Seventy three statements were recorded about contributors and detractors to healing in the physical environment. Three primary th...

Palliative and Supportive Care

Introduction There is a growing consensus that patient-centered care is more effective in treating patients than a strictly biomedical model, where there are known challenges to involving the patient in assessments, treatment goals, and determining preferred outcomes. Objectives The current study seeks to integrate patient values and perspectives by exploring how people diagnosed with a life-limiting disease define healing in their own words. Methods As a part of a larger study that included cognitive interviewing, we asked the question “what does the word healing mean to you?” Data were collected during face-to-face interviews with patients from three metropolitan healthcare facilities. Results Thirty participants responded to the question “what does healing mean to you?” Seven themes were identified through the data analysis. These themes include acceptance, feeling better, pain, social support, process, religion/spirituality, and make whole. The feeling better, pain, and process ...

Journal of Holistic Nursing, 2013

The purpose of this study was to uncover the nature, experiences, and meaning of personal healing for holistic nurses through their narrative accounts. The study employed a qualitative descriptive design with methods of narrative and story inquiry. Participants were nurse attendees at an American Holistic Nurses' Association conference who volunteered for the study. They were invited to share a story about healing self or another. Twenty-five stories were collected; seven were about personal healing, and these are the focus of this analysis. Data were analyzed using a hybrid approach from narrative and story inquiry methods. Eleven themes were clustered under three story segments. The themes within the Call to the Healing Encounter are the following: recognition of the need to resolve a personal or health crisis, knowledge of or engagement in self-care practices, and reliance on intuitive knowing. Themes under the Experience of Healing are the following: connections; profound sensations, perceptions, and events; awareness of the reciprocal nature of healing; inner resolution: forgiveness, awakening, and acceptance; use of multiple holistic approaches; and witnessing manifestations of healing. The themes for Insights are the following: gratitude and appreciation and ongoing journey. A metastory synthesizing the themes is presented, and findings are related to existing literature on healing.

Healing touch influences a individuals bodily or emotional strength devoid of everyone physically touching the individual. The use of touch is a universal practice. Touch is connected to devout or vigor in healing, salutary touch, and secluded curing. Touch was introduced in the 70's, nurses began to incorporate and develop a detailed organization of an increasing phenomenon of curative touch called therapeutic touch to bestow a new holistic, empathetic method during the healing process. Many nursing schools in the United States adapted the methods in which they incorporate the use of therapeutic touch, and it is often now used in conventional medical settings to help comfort patients. "Central to healing touch is the belief that a essential energy or life force flows freely through space and sustains all living organisms" (Jamiet,2012). In a healthy person, this energy is thought to flow in and away from the body in a reasonable or unbalanced way. The thought is that illness results when the power surge is in a realm of unsteadiness. This paper will give an epigrammatic and succinct fundamental viewpoint on how the concept analysis of healing touch in patient management, through a synopsis of philosophy and theory intertwined throughout the profession of nursing while allocating for a continued improvement, and acceptance of the profession, opening doorways to alternative methods of the healing practice.

Healing is not just dealing with your body: A Reflexive Grounded Theory Study Exploring Women's Concepts and Approaches Underlying the Use of Traditional and Complementary Medicine in Indonesia, 2018

The use of 'traditional' medicine, or a combination of biomedical treatment and 'traditional' medicine, is a common phenomenon all over Indonesia. In today's Indonesian healthcare system 'traditional' and alternative medicine coexist with globalized biomedicine. It has been found only recently that Indonesian urban, educated households are more likely to use 'traditional' than biomedical healthcare (Nurhayati & Widowati 2017). As early as 2003, Liebich described 80% of the urban population of Jakarta as occasionally or frequently using 'traditional' medicine. Despite the dominance of biomedical approaches in the Primary Health Care (PHC) system and the accompanying skepticism towards other health etiologies, the 'traditional' and complementary medicine (T&CM) market in Indonesia has experienced a veritable boom during the past 30 years. Drawing on the transdiciplinary field of health psychology and medical anthropology, this thesis discusses concepts and approaches that explain the use of T&CM in urban Yogyakarta (Java, Indonesia). These discussions are based on a Reflexive Grounded Theory study, conducted with semi-standardized interviews as the main source. The interview questions were designed to elicit narrative elements addressing previous experiences and evaluations of illness and previous treatment as well as possible combinations of medical practices. Additionally, expert interviews with different health agents illustrate conflicting interests and controversies. Even though this study focuses on illuminating issues of healthcare in urban Yogyakarta, it also finds a textual form to trace the journey of a 'Western' researcher, who tries to understand the meaning of healthcare in urban Yogyakarta. Thus, in addition to the substantive focus, this thesis has a methodological focus, aiming to trace the formative influence of the author along different steps of meaning making about healthcare in urban Indonesia. The first part of the dissertation gives insights into the contextual, epistemological and methodological background of the study (chapters 1 and 2). The second part analyzes interview narratives. This is done, on the one hand, by highlighting narrations of binary conceptualizations of 'health', 'illness' and 'healing', presented in the model of natural versus kimia. On the other hand, the analysis follows the ways in which my interviewees navigate healing, where they transcend conceptual differences by referring to their 'traditional' Javanese rasa of cocok (chapter 3). The third part of the thesis identifies the author as a situated outsider, highlighting the entanglement of a Western researcher in conceptual constructions used during interviews with Javanese women (chapter 4). The last part argues that binary thinking needs to be overcome in order to offer health seekers a truly people-centered and context-sensitive navigation of healing (chapter 5). This study highlights different voices of health seekers who emphasize that the current healthcare system in Indonesia does not meet their needs: neither the needs of the female Javanese health seekers, nor those of the medical experts and practitioners of both sectors, natural as well as kimia. Consequently, research on healthcare needs to recognize and accomodate the plurality and complexity of medical approaches, in order to bridge the rhetoric of healthcare systems and the experienced reality of health seekers as well as the formal and the informal healthcare system. Similar to bricoleurs, researchers need to consistently reflect upon and adjust their assumptions, introduce new methodological tools and use different forms of representation and interpretation to unite various disciplines, multiple methodologies, and various theoretical perspectives in their healthcare research.