Become A Member

The American Holistic Nurses Association defines holistic nursing as all nursing practice that has to do with healing the whole person as its goal. Holistic nursing care involves healing the mind, body and souls of our patients. This research study assessed the factors that influence the practice of holistic care by nurses in selected hospitals in Akure, Ondo State. A descriptive qualitative research design was employed using purposive sampling method. One hundred and nine (109) Nurses were selected and a self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using relevant tables and statistical calculations.

One hundred and nine (109) questionnaires were administered and retrieved back from the Nurses. A significant number of the respondents 35.8% within the ages of 26 to 30 years formed the highest population for the study and females were well represented than male nurses with 89.9%. A large percentage (55%) of the respondents has a degree in Nursing Furthermore, 41.3% has below five years in experience. More than three quarter of the respondents (87.2%) have heard or learnt about the concept of holistic care, More so, 84.4% understand the concept of holistic care to mean caring for the whole aspect which comprises of the physical, social, psychological and spiritual aspects of a man, Based on the findings from this study, 68.8% of nurses believed that holistic nursing care is cumbersome to practice, it was also noted that 58% of Nurses reported that the educational content and procedures while in school did not spell out holistic care in an extensive way. It was also noted that there are no adequate resources and also that improper nurse-patient ratio is high. However, recommendations and suggestions calling the intervention of the government in the provision of adequate resources/equipment, employment and retraining of professional nurses and the Nursing council should be sought to look into the curriculum of training to address the issue.