Nursing Theory and Holistic Nursing
I have been working as a volunteer at THE PLACE, an immigration center for refugees in Amarillo, TX. Throughout my volunteering period, I have worked with and alongside refugees who have faced and continue to face unique physical and mental health issues and challenges. I have utilized the Tidal Model in helping them with their recovery. In this article, I will discuss how nurses can provide holistic nursing care to vulnerable populations especially refugees, present how Phil Barker, the developer of the Tidal Model, would approach the care for refugees at THE PLACE, and share about a time when I provided what I would consider as holistic care to a patient.
How Nurses Can Provide Holistic Care to Refugees
THE PLACE in Amarillo, as a community center for refugees, understands that a refugee is a person who has come to us in search of protections that cannot be afforded by their country of origin. Refugees are hurt either physically, mentally, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually, or in all of these aspects of health due to the experiences in their home country. For nurses to be able to provide holistic care to refugees, they will require approaching such care in a manner that addresses psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, and developmental, as well as physical factors of the health of the refugees.
Nurses can address psychological factors that impact refugee health and meet their mental health needs by understanding that a majority of refugees, regardless of gender and age, have had traumatic experiences. My experiences at the PLACE have made me understand that the traumatic experiences among refugees are unique. A nurse needs to conduct a thorough mental health assessment on an individual basis to identify their current mental health status, mental issues, and their symptoms. They can then design a nursing environment where the individual feels safe and supported. It is advisable to employ refugee-specific trauma-informed care programs within the mental health care system as it is one way of achieving healing and successful resettlement (Im & Swan, 2021).
Nurses also need to understand the social and cultural differences between the refugees, the nurses, and other social groups. Such differences include differences in language, cultural practices and beliefs, religion, and perspectives on spirituality. As language is a major barrier to delivering care to refugees, the use of interpreters has proved to help overcome such a barrier and improve communication, the effectiveness of communication, and refugee care (Kletečka-Pulker et al., 2019). Additionally, nurses delivering care to refugees will also need to have respect for the refugees’ culture, religion, and other beliefs. Culture defines refugees’ health beliefs and health-seeking behaviors (Ahmadinia, 2022). Therefore, the nurses must develop cultural competencies such as being aware of their cultural differences and biases, being culturally sensitive, and integrating aspects of the refugees’ culture in the delivery of support and other nursing care. Such cultural competencies can help improve the refugees’ trust in the care and support provided, as well as effectively cooperate with the nurses in the delivery of both mental and physical healthcare.
Phil Barker’s Approach to Vulnerable Individuals Like Refugees
Phil Barker, the developer of the Tidal Model that I have selected to guide my practice at the PLACE, would approach each refugee as an independent individual by recognizing that each faces unique challenges and has unique strengths. In this case, he would focus on how each individual has experienced trauma or distress as well as how these experiences have impacted their physical and mental health. He would focus on each of the refugees’ perspectives on trauma, including how they understand and respond to traumatic experiences. In this case, if he was working in the PLACE, Baker would aim to include each of these experiences, and their impact on the individual refugees, as well as the refugees’ perspectives of such experiences and trauma in the development of a more person-centered recovery and mental health plan. To achieve these, as per the Tidal Model, he would employ active listening, interdisciplinary collaboration, use of evidence, and partnering with individual refugees.
My Story Providing Holistic Care to a Patient
Volunteering at THE PLACE has provided me with multiple opportunities to deliver holistic care to individuals. One particular time I delivered what I would consider to be holistic care to a patient was when I was assigned a patient, a female of 48 years of age, from Iraq. She did not understand English or any other language we had in common. She was a strict Muslim. She had lost her two sons during the war, and she had her arm amputated following an injury she suffered while escaping. I tried using hand signs and, later, a translator. I also let her explain how she felt, what she expected to gain now she was in the U.S., her mental health goals, and the life she expected to live here. I also collaborated with other specialists, including a mental health specialist, an OBGYN, and an orthopedics specialist. She enjoyed the care provided throughout, and she has successfully been integrated into the local community, where she is coping well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, holistic nursing can help improve the mental and physical health of vulnerable population groups such as refugees. It requires focusing on the individual’s mental, physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health to design more patient- and person-centered care plans. The use of theories such as the Tidal Model can improve the centeredness of care to the refugees’ overall health needs.
References
Ahmadinia, H. (2022). A Review of Health Beliefs and Their Influence on Asylum Seekers and Refugees’ Health-Seeking Behavior. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 1626 CCIS, 161–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14832-3_11/
Im, H., & Swan, L. E. T. (2021). Working towards Culturally Responsive Trauma-Informed Care in the Refugee Resettlement Process: Qualitative Inquiry with Refugee-Serving Professionals in the United States. Behavioral Sciences, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/BS11110155
Kletečka-Pulker, M., Parrag, S., Drožđek, B., & Wenzel, T. (2019). Language Barriers and the Role of Interpreters: A Challenge in the Work with Migrants and Refugees. An Uncertain Safety, 345–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72914-5_14
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Question 
Instructions
1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read the information on holistic nursing found on page 188 in the text Professional Nursing: Concepts and Challenges.
3. Review chapter 9 in the text: Professional Nursing: Concepts and Challenges.
Nursing Theory and Holistic Nursing
4. Review the Resources for Workshop 2: Nursing Theory and Holistic Nursing W
5. Consider how nursing theorists that have been discussed over the last two weeks recognized the importance of assessing more than simply the physiological needs of the patient.
6. Search OCLS and the internet for information on the vulnerable population served by the agency where you will volunteer. 7. Prepare to discuss the following prompts:
a. Describe how nurses could provide holistic care to the vulnerable population with whom you will be volunteering. Consider the psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, and developmental factors included in the assessment in addition to any physical
concerns.
b. Describe how one or more of the nursing theorists mentioned in Discussion 2.2 would approach individuals within the vulnerable population you have chosen.
c. Share about a time when you provided what you would consider holistic care to a patient.
8. Research and select at least two current scholarly sources to support your explanations and insights. OCLS resources are preferred sources and can be accessed through IWU Resources o. Wikipedia is not permitted, as it is not a peer-reviewed, scholarly source.
9. Whether written or spoken, interactions are expected to:
a. clearly and thoroughly address the prompt with meaningful information that shows critical thinking.
b. introduce your own ideas and questions to add greater depth to the discussion, rather than restating what your classmates have shared. (Include much more than “Great post,” or “I agree.”)
c. refer to relevant course concepts as you discuss your learning together.
d. develop insightful conversation by directly addressing your classmates’ ideas.
e. demonstrate professionalism.