Holistic assessment is the process by which a condition is defined through the use of theory and presence. Holistic assessment is used in applications that show holistic healing and allow the bodies of patients to heal in a more natural way.
Holistic assessment is generally used in the holistic nursing process. This process is done when a nurse takes into account the health of an entire person, rather than focusing on one key point to begin healing. The practice also focuses around the environment of a patient and the way that a patient's body responds to different factors that are present in the environment.
Nurses who practice holistically are focused around the theories, documentation, knowledge and intuition. They use these various factors to help them become more than nurses when they are healing their patients. They are more like therapeutic partners and are able to help their patients in a way that works with the patient's entire body. Holistic nursing does not have grave side effects like traditional medicine and it is not intended to harm parts of the body while helping other parts. Florence Nightingale is believed to be one of the first nurses who began practicing medicine in a more holistic way.
