The Holistic Nurses

Association of New South

Wales: our history, our
present and our future
Cindy Redmond
The Holistic Nurses Association (HNA) of New South Wales was formed in March 1995 by
nurses inspired by the inaugural Natural Therapies Conference held by the New South
Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA) in October1994. A philosophy of providing support to
nurses wishing to provide healthcare in a holistic way underpinned the formation of the
HNA in a climate of disenchantment with the mechanistic and reductionist methods of
modern healthcare. The main aims of the group are to share information, meet regularly
for support, identify our goals and to organize presentations and workshops that promote
and strengthen our professional goals and identity. The HNA has been recognised as a
group to consult with regarding policy formation for the use of natural therapies within the
mainstream health service. The Nurses Registration Board of New South Wales and the
New South Wales Nurses Association both liaised with HNANSW when formulating their
policies on the use of complementary therapies in nursing. # 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd

INTRODUCTION

Cindy Redmond
RGN, Renal Cert, DRM,
BHlthSc (Nursing), Clinical
Nurse Specialist, Home
DialysisTraining Unit,
Prince Henry Hospital,
Little Bay, Sydney, New
South Wales 2036,
Australia.
Correspondance to:
Cindy Redmond,
4/93 Duncan Street,
Maroubra, Sydney,
New South Wales 2035,
Australia.
Tel.: 02 9349 3102;
Fax: 02 9382 5057

The Holistic Nurses Association (HNA) of New

South Wales was formed in March 1995 by
nurses inspired by the inaugural Natural Therapies Conference held by the New South Wales
Nurses Association (NSWNA) in October 1994.
The NSWNA is the nurses' union in NSW and is
aliated with the Labour Council. In contrast to
the United Kingdom, each state or territory in
Australia has a separate nurses' union, and pay
and conditions vary according to the state
award. It represents nurses in the state of NSW
and has aliation with the Australian Nurses
Federation (ANF) which has members in all
states of Australia.
A philosophy of providing support to nurses
wishing to provide healthcare in a holistic way
underpinned the formation of the HNA in a
climate of disenchantment with the mechanistic
and reductionist methods of modern healthcare.
Nurses are well respected by the community and
are in a better position to assist people with
making choices about healthcare than any other

health professional. However we have less

clinical freedom than doctors who are able to
exercise their freedom of choice regarding treatment they believe are best for their patients.
Nurses are accustomed to their work being
controlled and so we tend to ask for permission
and embark on a tedious journey of gaining
approval and accepting limitations and restrictions. This process comes under the umbrella
terms of consultation and policy planning.
Realistically, this is unavoidable since we have
a code of conduct to regulate and guide us and
we are accountable for our practice. Qualications and training in complementary therapies
are usually obtained outside nursing and the
tertiary education sector, and this necessitates
internal policy formation. In addition to this, the
safety of patients and nurses demands that
guidelines for the safe handling of hazardous
substances and manual handling concerns be
addressed.
The encouragement and support of the
NSWNA have been important to our development. They have assisted us in practical ways by

Complementary Therapies in Nursing & Midwifery (2000) 6, 95^97 # 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd

96 Complementary Therapies in Nursing & Midwifery

Topics have
included
immunization,
Sahaja yoga,
Shell essences,
Celtic Harp
Healing, the
Horstmann
Technique and
Reiki.

allowing us to consult with their experienced

sta when planning conferences, and have
supported our endeavours by becoming the joint
organizers for our 1998 and 1999 conferences.
HNA has access to a large mainstream nursing
audience via the NSWNA's monthly publication
the Lamp (circulation approx 40,000) in which
educational events and meetings are advertised.
The main aims of the group are to share
information, meet regularly for support, identify
our goals and to organize presentations and
workshops that promote and strengthen our
professional goals and identity.
We meet monthly and our meetings comprise
of a presentation from an invited speaker
followed by a meeting to discuss business
matters. Non members are welcome to hear the
speaker at a nominal charge of ve dollars. The
meetings are open to all members, not just the
elected committee. As we do not have a branch
structure this ensures that the democratic process
is upheld. Topics in 1999 have included immunization, Sahaja yoga, Shell essences, acupuncture in gynaecology, screening for breast cancer
with thermal imaging, Celtic Harp Healing, the
Horstmann Technique and Reiki. We have
already booked speakers for these evenings up
until the middle of the year 2000.
Holistic Connections, the newsletter of the
HNA is published four times a year, and has
doubled in content since its inception. This
includes research articles news items, reports of
conferences and seminars attended by members,
articles explaining therapies, proles of members
and groups, book reviews and poems. Listings of
upcoming events and advertisements for practitioners and products are also included.
The HNA is not a nancially wealthy organization; our greatest asset is our members. We
have, however, provided sponsorship to individuals attending educational events in order to
network and promote the HNA. We are in the
process of writing formal guidelines for applying
for sponsorship for education and research
grants.

POLICY FORMATION
The HNA is recognised as a group to consult
with regarding policy formation for the use of
complementary therapies within the mainstream
health service. The Nurses Registration Board of
New South Wales (Similar to the United
Kingdom Central Council for Nursing and
Midwifery) invited us to send a delegate to their
liaison committee meetings in order to formulate
a policy for complementary therapies. The
resultant Complementary Therapies in Nursing
Practice policy document was nalized in
December 1998 and covers standards of practice,

responsibility of the individual nurse, and consent and practice issues. One of the documents
used in developing the statement was the
UKCC's Policy on Complementary Therapies in
Nursing Practice (endorsed 1996 and reviewed
1998) The HNA were also involved in formation
of NSWNA's Complementary Therapies in
Nursing Practice policy which was formally
accepted at the 1996 Annual General Meeting.
This year the HNA was represented on a
committee seeking to formulate local policy
and guidelines in the South Eastern Sydney Area
Health Service.

MEMBERSHIP
This has grown steadily from an initial ve
members to a healthy 220. Our membership
represents nurses from a wide range of clinical
and educational backgrounds, from not only the
inner city but also rural and remote areas. We
have members who practice as masseurs, aromatherapists, Bush and Bach ower therapists,
Shell Essence therapists, Qi Gong therapists,
Reiki therapists, Holistic Pulse practitioners,
music therapists and Reexologists (to name
but a few). Some are working in nursing, some
have moved into private practice in a variety of
disciplines and a number combine the two.

NETWORKING
We receive many requests to operate stalls and
provide speakers at nursing conferences. The last
three years has seen us attend the three day
NSWNA conference at the Australian Jockey
Club at Randwick. We have also been in
attendance at study days held in large Sydney
metropolitan hospitals, namely Liverpool, North
Sydney and at the Royal Women's Hospital.
Requests to support workshops outside the
metropolitan area are welcomed and HNA has
a good track record in the provision of speakers
for these. Of particular relevance are the many
`Care for the Carers' workshops that we support.
Holistic nursing does not stop at the boundaries
of the whole client but acknowledges the needs of
family, friends and health professionals. We need
to be mindful of our own needs and limitations
in order to handle stress, remain compassionate
and prevent `burn out'. In an era of enormous
recruitment and retention diculties this may
prove to be one of nursing's greatest challenges.
The HNA also take the opportunity to meet
with the general public and showcase our work
at community fairs and carnivals. One such
event that we regularly attend is the Pathways
and Predictions Fair at the Brighton le
Sands Novotel. We held our rst annual state

Holistic Nurses Association of New South Wales

97

conference in 1997, are currently planning and

organizing the 2000 conference, and have just
completed evaluating the 1999 conference which
was held on 2325 October. HNA has sponsored
members to attend conferences in New Zealand
as speakers and has invited overseas speakers to
our own conferences.
The HNA is informally linked with the
Australian College of Holistic Nurses (ACHN),
and are represented on their committee. As they
are a nationwide organization we communicate
with the ACHN by tele-conferencing. Future
directions of our organization will include formal
evaluation of the benets of incorporation with
this group.

HNA is not the cause of these changes, but

the result of these changes. The increase in our
membership, our conference attendances, sponsorship and support from suppliers of products
and therapists can be directly attributed to the
increased recognition in the value of this vision.
The community at large wants compassionate
care that involves their contribution to their own
recovery and wellbeing. We, as members of
this community as well as members of the
healthcare community, are in a privileged
position to enable this to happen. The recognition of this, which has only occurred to me as I
write this, is overwhelmingly humbling and I am
thankful.

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

In the four years since HNA began there have

been many changes. We still have the same vision
of nurses supporting a new paradigm of health
based on self determination and taking responsibility for our own health. A system of health
based on wellness, not illness and disease, and
the wholeness of a person is not a fanciful pipe
dream, but is becoming a reality. The work of the

New South Wales Nurses Association 1996

Complementary therapies in nursing practice policy.
Sydney: NSWNA
Nurses Registration Board of New South Wales 1998
Complementary therapies in nursing practice policy.
Sydney: Nurses Registration Board of New South
Wales
United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing &
Midwifery 1996 Complementary therapies
in nursing practice policy. London: UKCC

Between the idea

And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the shadow.
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
TS Eliot, Journey ofthe Magi See 4:7