Factors Influencing the Practice of Holistic Care by Nurses in Selected Hospitals in Ondo State

Abstract

Nurses have been educated with a fragmented biomedical allopathic focus and do not have a good understanding of the meaning of holistic care as a compelling evidence which suggested that nurses are not familiar with holistic care and in essence neglect this model of caring, do not engage in this method and get involved only in patients' physical needs ignoring the mental, spiritual and social needs of patients. This study assessed the factors that influence the practice of holistic care by nurses in selected hospitals in Akure, Ondo State. A descriptive research design was employed using purposive sampling method. Nurses were selected and a self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using relevant tables and statistical calculations.

A pre-tested structured questionnaire was administered to 109 nurses using purposive sampling technique. A significant number of the respondents 35.8% within the ages of 26 to 30 years formed the highest population for the study. More than three quarters of the respondents (87.2%) have heard or learnt about the concept of holistic care. Also, 84.4% understand the concept of holistic care. The findings from this study also revealed that 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 the nurse-patient ratio is high. However, recommendations and suggestions calling the training and retraining of professional nurses and the nursing council should be sought to look into the curriculum of training to address the issue.