Holistic Nursing Care Plan for Terminally Ill Patients
This paper presents a holistic nursing care plan for a terminally ill cancer patient, examining how perceptions of quality of life and health promotion shape end-of-life care. Drawing on hospice philosophy and holistic nursing principles, the plan addresses the patient's physical comfort, emotional health, and spiritual well-being. It also considers the role of family members, outlines practical financial and legal preparations coordinated by the hospice team, and surveys complementary and alternative care modalities — including energy therapy, mind-body interventions, and manipulative methods — that support whole-person care during the dying process.
- Holistic Nursing in End-of-Life Care: Defines holistic and hospice nursing philosophy
- Patient Comfort and Pain Management: Addresses pain relief and family involvement
- Patient Emotional and Spiritual Health: Covers emotional support and spiritual preparation
- Patient Physical Care and Hospice Services: Describes in-home hospice care activities
- Factors Addressed by the Hospice Team: Lists legal, financial, and coping strategies
- Alternative and Complementary Care Methods: Surveys five alternative therapy categories
- Summary and Conclusion: Synthesizes the full holistic care plan
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper integrates quoted definitions from authoritative sources — including the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the American Holistic Nurses Association — to ground its claims in established professional standards.
- It systematically addresses all dimensions of holistic care (physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical/legal), creating a well-rounded and clinically credible care plan.
- The inclusion of a formatted table summarizing alternative therapy categories with examples demonstrates the ability to organize comparative information clearly for a clinical audience.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied synthesis: it takes theoretical definitions of holistic and hospice care and translates them into concrete, patient-centered interventions. Rather than merely describing concepts, each section connects a nursing principle (e.g., whole-person care, patient autonomy) to a specific action or recommendation for the patient and her family.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a thematic care-plan structure. It opens with a conceptual foundation for holistic and hospice nursing, then moves through five targeted care domains — comfort, emotional health, spiritual health, physical care, and hospice team responsibilities — before presenting alternative therapies as a supplementary layer. A summary conclusion ties the domains back into a unified care narrative. This mirrors the organization of a clinical nursing care plan document.
Holistic Nursing in End-of-Life Care
The objective of this study is to create a holistic nursing care plan for a terminally ill patient. The paper explains how perceptions about quality of life and health promotion might affect care for a dying patient with a lingering illness such as cancer, and discusses strategies that could be used to improve the quality of life for the patient and her husband during this illness.
It is important that any nursing care plan for the terminally ill includes the reassurance that the patient will not be abandoned, and that the nurse assist the patient in discussing her care wishes and goals. To assist patients in this situation, it is important to understand the concepts and elements of end-of-life care and for the nurse to be a skilled practitioner of the nursing arts. End-of-life care is "patient goal-centered and should be provided for those who have a limited life expectancy" (Norlander, n.d., p. 3).
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization states that hospice:
"…affirms the concept of palliative care as an intensive program that enhances comfort and promotes the quality of life for individuals and their families. When cure is no longer possible, hospice recognizes that a peaceful and comfortable death is an essential goal of health care. Hospice believes that death is an integral part of the life cycle and that intensive palliative care focuses on pain relief, comfort, and enhanced quality of life as appropriate goals for the terminally ill. Hospice also recognizes the potential for growth that often exists within the dying experience for the individual and his or her family and seeks to protect and nurture this potential." (Norlander, n.d., p. 4)
Holistic nursing practice is defined as "all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal" (Mariano, 2007, p. 64). Holistic nursing care is a caring and healing relationship that values the cultural beliefs and values of the patient as well as the individual's spirituality. It involves care of the individual's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being, with a focus on comfort and relief from pain.
References
American Holistic Nurses Association. (2004). AHNA standards of holistic nursing practice. Flagstaff, AZ: AHNA.
Mariano, C. (2003). Advanced practice in holistic nursing. In M. Mezey, D. McGivern, & E. Sullivan-Marx (Eds.), Nurse practitioners: Evolution of advanced practice (4th ed.). New York: Springer.
Mariano, C. (2007). Holistic nursing: Scope and standards of practice. Chapter 2. Retrieved from http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449651756/45632_CH02_Pass1.pdf
Norlander, L. (n.d.). To comfort always: A nurse's guide to end-of-life care. Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
What is holistic nursing care. (2004). American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA).
Wuerl, D. (2013). [End-of-life planning guidance]. Retrieved from source on file.
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