The communication skills required for holistic nursing care of patients in adult nursing.
The American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) defines holistic nursing as “all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal.” Holistic nursing recognises that there is a connection between a persons mind, environment, culture, emotions and body. “holistic nursing is not necessarily something that you do; it is an attitude, a philosophy and a way of being.” American Holistic Nurses Association 1998.
The Oxford online dictionary defines the word holistic as: “medicine characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.” Oxford Dictionary online 2010.
There are two types of communication, verbal and non-verbal. Communication is the exchange of information, verbally or non-verbally. The Oxford dictionary defines the word communication as: “the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.” Oxford Dictionary online 2010.
verbal communication is speaking face to face to someone using words, sounds, speech and language. Verbal communication is separated into two types, public speaking and interpersonal communication. There are over 3000 languages spoken in the world and verbal communication is based largely on these as well as class, profession, age and social factors. some sources suggest that written communication is verbal as well as non-verbal.
Non-verbal communication is email, letters, databases, social networking sites, text messaging as well as body language. Body language is an important means of communication, it includes gestures, eye contact, expressions and posture.
How we communicate non-verbally is extremely important and sends strong messages as to whether you care and to what extent you are listening. We communicate this way by how we sit, the tone and pace of how we talk, how much personal space we use and the eye contact we make.