Having just come from the annual Association of Holistic Nurses
conference, I was moved by the words of Dr. Barbara Dossey.  She pointed
out, in great detail, not only that Nightingale’s legacy lives on
today, but she also introduced a new framework for Integral Nursing.
Holistic, she pointed out, in its historical definition, has now
become integrated into standard practice.  The next innovation facing
nursing is to balance qualitative and quantitative methodologies in order to
reconcile the subjective with the objective.

Clearly, we know from looking at the continually changing standards
promulgated by the FDA, that with each scientific claim accompanying every
new medication,there are stunning exceptions.

Evidence-based medicine was not, in its inception, designed to limit
available sources of relevant data.  The original concept of evidence-based
medicine was to expand the awareness and definition of evidence to be so broad as to bring attention to the patient experience and the intuition, hopefully informed, of the clinician.  A parent generally knows when their child is ill, even in the face of the physician’s diagnosis that there are no significant symptoms about which to be alarmed.  A woman whose mammogram comes back normal often knows intuitively when something is not right and demands further research.

Now is the time for clinicians…nurses, physicians, and others
involved in patient care…to take the words of Dr. Dossey ever so
seriously in looking at integral health:  that the whole patient
involves the whole cycle of information, not just half.

In the 15 years that we have been producing the C.A.R.E. Channel and
working with hospitals, the use and understanding of the term ‘healing
environment’ has not remained stagnant.  It has continually evolved to
redefine itself in accordance with practices that are dynamic and open to
feedback from patients, nurses, visitors..and others whose opinions may be
meaningful.  That we are looking at a television programming format seems to
equalize expertise on what works and what does not work.  If the C.A.R.E. Channel is effective, that is determined by the viewer, not the producer.  If a pain medication works, that can only be determined by observation and the response of the patient, not the prediction or knowledge of the provider or the pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Herein lies the argument for ensuring that the basis of evidence…to
be truly evidence-based…must necessarily include the voice of the patient,
the skills of the clinician, and the science that begs for more data and yet often yields so little.