Paired practica as a pedagogical process in holistic nursing curriculum development.

Nurses have long advocated for significant transformations in the way that care is offered. Among advanced holistic nursing programs, there are no particular models for developing curricula and practica. This article describes a pedagogical process of a holistic health assessment as a context for paired practica of graduate and undergraduate nursing students to simultaneously engage in knowledge discovery.

A legacy building model for holistic nursing.

This pilot project was an effort to record the historical roots, development, and legacy of holistic nursing through the visionary spirit of four older American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) members. The aim was twofold: (a) to capture the holistic nursing career experiences of elder AHNA members and (b) to begin to create a Legacy Building Model for Holistic Nursing. The narratives will help initiate an ongoing, systematic method for the collection of historical data and serve as a perpetual archive of knowledge and inspiration for present and future holistic nurses. An aesthetic inquiry approach was used to conduct in-depth interviews with four older AHNA members who have made significant contributions to holistic nursing. The narratives provide a rich description of their personal and professional evolution as holistic nurses. The narratives are presented in an aesthetic format of the art forms of snapshot, pastiche, and collage rather than traditional presentations of research findings. A synopsis of the narratives is a dialogue between the three authors and provides insight for how a Legacy Model can guide our future. Considerations for practice, education, and research are discussed based on the words of wisdom from the four older holistic nurses.

The covered wagon journey: student chronicles in advanced holistic nursing.

This article recounts the experiences of a first cohort of graduate students in a newly implemented advanced holistic nursing (AHN) track, one of only a handful in the nation, and the first in Florida. The increasing popularity of complementary and alternative healing processes represents the insufficiency of a health system of fragmented care and a desire for holistic healing that is beyond mainstream allopathic care. Graduate holistic nurse education equips nurses to explore the commitment needed to advance the evolution of health care. The covered wagon journey is a metaphor for this meaningful participation. Students journaled their experiences as cotravelers in a lone wagon: embarking on a courageous journey, forging a path of discovery, and reaching their destination as pioneers. This cohort experience embodied the central tenets of holistic nursing, thus creating conscious change and unity within a learning community. The future of AHN is addressed in the context of the contemporary health care environment.

Creation of an American Holistic Nurses Association research consultation program.

A goal of the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) Research Committee is to prepare holistic nurses to conduct holistic nursing research. This article describes the creation of a Research Consultation Program and how the knowledge gained from the program will contribute to the development of a formal research mentor program.

Cocreating a communicative space to develop a mindfulness meditation manual for women in recovery from substance abuse disorders.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs are becoming more integrated into the treatment of persons with substance use disorders (SUDs). A focus of MBSR is to increase awareness of sensations in the body and accept them in the moment without judgment. Little is known about the readiness of women, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and their level of comfort to participate in MBSR programs. Habermas' ideal speech situation guided a cooperative inquiry with 45 women at 3 treatment centers. Women engaged in activities of MBSR and shared opinions on how to develop a manual that would address the readiness of women with SUDs-PTSD to participate in MBSR.

Curriculum as environment: a focus group study.

Curricula development is critical for the advancement and evolution of holistic nursing education. Although the American Holistic Nurses Association offers advanced practice board certification for graduate nurses, there is a scarcity of available graduate holistic nursing courses and curricula. The researchers developed a curriculum for an advanced holistic nursing program at a university college of nursing in South Florida. The curriculum and process of development were presented at a workshop during a national holistic nursing conference. A portion of the workshop included an opportunity for attendees to voluntarily participate in a focus group research study. The specific aim of the research was to determine the best approaches for the development of curricula for the promotion of graduate holistic nurse education based on the insights of holistic nurses, nurse educators, nurse practitioners, and scholars. A content analysis identified 3 themes that addressed holistic nursing curriculum: (1) consider curriculum as an evolving blueprint for personal and professional growth; (2) embrace the uniqueness of students; and (3) encourage faculty to co-create the learning environment.

Creating a graduate holistic nursing program.

In Spring 2010, an innovative Master of Science in Holistic Nursing track was launched in as the realization of a vision for graduate holistic nursing held by the faculty of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing in Palm Beach County. As 1 of 6 such tracks in the nation and the only holistic master's program in Florida, there were few guideposts to lead the way. The development of holistic nurse education that answered to student, community, and faculty needs within an unpredictable health care environment involved courage, commitment, and risk taking. The purpose of this article is to describe the philosophical foundations, professional framework, and development process that gave form and shape to the advanced holistic nursing track.

Evaluating Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: analyzing stories of stress to formulate focus group questions.

The primary purpose of this analysis was to learn how therapeutic community (TC) residents describe Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) delivered as part of their substance use recovery experience. A secondary purpose was to develop focus group questions guided by TC residents' descriptions. Two researchers independently analyzed 38 written stories about stress in the TC. The researchers used conventional content analysis; independent analysis was followed by consensus dialogue to identify key words and code definitions. Three themes emerged from the content analysis: utility, portability, and sustainability. Participants talked about MBSR as a tool which helped them "manage" their recovery, noting that they used MBSR techniques in the TC and off-site. They believed they could use MBSR even after exiting the TC. Three focus group questions were formulated, one for each theme. Content analysis of stories of stress provided substantive guidance for formulating focus group questions which incorporated the voice of participants through familiar terms and friendly language.