Faith Community Nursing Practice and Holistic Nursing Practice: A Comprehensive and Inclusive Comparison of Both Specialties

Abstract

Faith community nursing and holistic nursing are recognized by the American Nurses Association as nursing specialties. Both nursing specialties practice with the understanding that holistically caring for an individual as a unique whole in his or her totality including respecting and attending to a human being's spiritual and/or faith-based needs across the life span is integral in promoting health and healing. The purpose of this article is to present the evolution of faith community nursing and holistic nursing practice and to compare their similarities and differences based on each specialty's current Scope and Standards of Practice. Utilizing each specialty's Scope and Standards of Practice allowed the authors a fair, practical, and extensive means for presenting a comprehensive and inclusive comparison. Continued and partnered research should be conducted by both specialties to advance their scope and standards of practice, to support comprehensive evidence-based and outcome-based care that promotes health, healing, compassion and caring, and to educate others regarding each nursing specialty's role, value, and significant contributions to the art and science of nursing.

Keywords: faith community nursing; holistic nursing; scope and standards of practice; specialty; comparison; spirituality; religiosity.