Application of the Henderson Nursing Model from a Holistic Perspective Article

practise of the Henderson nursing Model from a Holistic Perspective - Article ExampleApplication of the Henderson breast feeding Model from a Holistic Perspective Virginia Henderson was an advanced woman of her time. By 1934 she had earned both her Bachelors of Nursing and her Masters Degree in Nursing Education and was well on her way towards making single of the biggest changes in nursing history. In an era where sustains were starting to be appreciated for more than their power to change dressings, Hendersons work on a theory of nursing was the right move at the right time in history (Nursing Theory, 2011). Hendersons Nursing Model Henderson is known as a needs theorist (Kim & Kollak, 2006, p.17). Her prime theory was centered on the idea that a nurses position was to help the individual to invite their own independence. This lent a flexibility to the nursing model an idea that a nurse could be many things to the same uncomplaining. Henderson put it as assisting the individu al, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to the health or its rec everyplacey (or to a peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge And to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible (1961, p. 42). ... She was also a strong proponent for the idea that the nurses obligation and duty is to the patient rather than the doctor which was a prevalent belief prior to that time. Nicholl (1997) wrote about her Hendersons definition of nursing was a major shift from the task-procedure perspective and one of the earliest widely used definitions to present a conceptualization of nursing that included function and goal (p.509). Henderson viewed a nurses function as being every substitutive (doing manything instead of the patient) supplementary (helping the patient directly to do something) or complementary (working with the patient to do something). This way the patient had a certa in control over how his or her treatment went with the nurse identified as someone who can facilitate that process (Nursing Theory, 2011). This emphasis on the patient having some control over his or her health and treatment is one aspect that resonates with holistic health practices. Holistic Medicine and the Henderson Nursing Model Holistic euphony is defined as a doctrine of preventive and therapeutic medicine that emphasizes the necessity of looking at the whole personhis body, mind, emotions, and environmentrather than at an isolated function or organ...holistic medicine puts ownership of the patients health back with the patient, teaching the precepts of exercise, a good diet, adequate sleep, fresh air, and moderation in individual(prenominal) habits (Shaw, 2008). Originally considered new age and totally against the medical methods of treatment, in more recent times holistic aspects of health care are working alongside mainstream medical techniques. While it could not be s aid that Virginia Henderson was a