Nursing and the Humanistic Approach

Learning Theory and Practice
The humanistic theory of learning puts the recipient of the learning at the center of the learning process—i.e., the individual is the focus rather than the environment, the nurse, the situation, etc. This stems from the person-centered approach that Rogers (1951) developed, describing it as “the best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the individual” (p. 495).
The main advantages of humanistic theory are that: 1) it offers a learner-centered approach to learning that allows the needs of the individual learner to be front and center, and 2) it assists in the development of adequate motivation, relationship-building, communication, and self-efficacy (Halstead, 2007).
When developing a target change to a patient lifestyle, humanistic theory is especially helpful because it allows the patient’s needs to be identified and addressed first and foremost. For example, a patient who is obese may need to implement a healthier dietary and exercise lifestyle. Humanistic theory allows the nurse to identify the needs of the patient first; so instead of simply recommending the right course of action, indifferent to the patient’s underlying needs, the nurse can help the patient to identify issues that may be leading to a desire to eat unhealthy foods and avoid exercise. Perhaps the patient is depressed about something, or has a lot of anxiety. The nurse can help to address underlying issues through the humanistic theory and then implement the right course of action to help address the patient’s health issue.
In the case of providing a culturally tailored diabetic education to reduce HBA1C level in Asian Americans with type 2 diabetes, humanistic theory will allow a nurse to identify the culture of the patient and use this as a supportive approach to addressing the patient’s needs while providing quality care in treatment of the diabetes.
Health behavior change is a process and not an overnight event. It takes time for information to be processed, that processing to lead to action, and that action to lead to positive results that can reinforce the justification for the change in the first place. When developing an intervention for practice or research, this information can be put into action in terms of helping a patient to realize that change will not come immediately but may take several days, weeks or months before a sense of improvement can be felt. It is important to do this because patients can easily become discouraged, especially if they feel that the prescribed treatment is requiring them to personally sacrifice a lot of comforts that they are used to enjoying.
Recognizing that health behavior change is a process and not an event can also help in the course of research as it allows the researcher to remember that solutions to problems do not come quickly but rather are found over the course of many steps, and that arriving at solutions depends upon doing things in an ordered and thorough manner, which can seem tedious at times.
In the case of implementing a culturally tailored diabetic education to reduce HBA1C level in Asian Americans with type 2 diabetes, knowing that health behavior change is a process rather than a single event is good measure because this foreknowledge will guide a care provider to ensure that the patient has an adequate support system in place to assist with the change process. Because change is more than a matter of making up one’s mind but also of implementing the steps, this system is very helpful in the long run.


References
Halstead, J. (2007). Nurse Educator Competencies: Creating an Evidence-Based
Practice for Nurse Educators. New York, NY: National League for Nursing.
Rogers, C. (1951). Client-Centered Therapy. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.