Reed, S. M. (2010). A unitary-caring conceptual model for advanced practice nursing in palliative care.

Holistic nursing practice, 24(1), 23-34. Purpose of article is to describe the unitary-caring model for APNS in palliative care, focusing on healing and caring. This approach enhances the possibilities of healing, which ultimately tries to improve the quality of life for patients and families suffering from terminal or chronic illness. Since the concept of palliative care is essentially holistic, a theoretical framework of Unitary and caring perspective would be most beneficial to guide nurses in their practise. Although the goal for palliative care is to ease suffering, unitary human theory allows the possibility of pattern appreciation and wholeness to enhance healing.

Malinski, V. M. (2012). Meditations on the Unitary Rhythm of Dying-Grieving. Nursing Science Quarterly, 25(3), 239-244. In this article the author explores her personal analysis of dying and grieving as a unitary rhythm through the insights of Rogers science of unitary human beings. Rogers describes that dying is a creative, transforming process. The energy patterning after death continues and does not cease or fade away. She identifies the living-dying process as one characterized by rhythmical patterning and thought her science offers a new approach to studying the dying process. Example she uses is of her husband passing away. She mentions that her friends knew how she was feeling through the language she spoke. If she spoke of him as dead, she was at a low energy, feeling heavy and dense, had trouble sleeping and meditating. If she spoke of him as passing on, she felt more energized; feeling connected through dreams and meditations, entering and experience a more timeless, visionary realm of existence. The above example relates to the metaphor of slinky used by Rogers. Her experience is not linear; rather it is always transforming and fluctuating in rhythmic fashion. Although only one person is physically dying, both are simultaneously forever changed and continue to change. Joe Crookston creatively portrays a transformative view of dying in his song Fall Down as the Rain (CD of same name):

When my life is over And I have gone away Im gonna leave this big ole world And the trouble and the pain And if I get to heaven I will not stay Ill turn myself around again And FALL DOWN AS THE RAIN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdlYftMn94

Broide & Smith (2007) found that therapeutic touch can be an effective tool that can be useful in preventing and treating some of todays major health problems such as pain, stress, and blood pressure.

Cowling W. (2005). Despairing women and healing outcomes: a unitary appreciative nursing perspective. Advances in Nursing Science, 28, 94-106. Summary: This article analyzes unitary appreciative nursing and the healing outcomes associated with despairing women (i.e. clinical depression and various forms of abuse). Unitary appreciative nursing is grounded in the science of unitary human beings, and it integrates three ways of responsiveness: unitary, appreciative, and participatory. Unitary responsiveness requires a orientation toward human beings as inherently whole; appreciation responsiveness is perceiving, being aware of, being sensitive to, and expressing the full force of the human life patterning while recognizing it as experienced in gratitude and understanding; and participatory responsiveness is the mode of the practice process that is grounded in the metaphysical idea of human life as a partnership with the universe, and occurs at the intersection of nursing practice and the lives of human beings. Outcomes: 1. Are viewed as emergent and unfold in accordance with the desires of the women and in concurrence with the three unitary appreciative nursing responses. 2. Projection of outcome is considered mutually (nurse-client) in shaping approaches consistent with expressing desired life patterning. 3. Outcomes are framed as healing potentials envisioned by the women, and participants are invited to consider a perspective of infinite possibilities. This is not imposed as a requisite for participation. 4. Attainment of outcomes is not viewed as support for linear causality. The unitary paradigm implies that you cannot precisely extract a particular event or variable associated with change as a cause because all events and variables are unified and inseparable. Benefits: Healing outcomes for these women reflected on realizing, knowing, and appreciating the wholeness of life, along with clarifying the understandings of life patterning, and elucidating potentials and opportunities for the betterment of life. Limitations: The use of unitary appreciative nursing for despairing women is preliminary. There is also limited cultural variation in the women involved in the projects which means that further research involving unitary appreciative nursing with women from varying cultural experiences would provide more clarity about individual patterning associated with despair.

MacNeil, M. (2006). Therapeutic touch, pain, and caring: Implications for nursing practice. International Journal for Human Caring, 10(1), 40-48. Summary: This article describes a study that used therapeutic touch (TT) to reduce pain and promote relaxation in tension headache pain sufferers. Within a Rogerian framework, this study contributes to the body of nursing knowledge concerned with holistic pain interventions. The study provided nurses with a viable framework for care that includes touch and caring. Working on the premise that TT has a calming effect and that the subjects' headaches were a direct result of tension, TT was conducted to create a calming effect to determine if headache pain was affected. Outcome: TT process was described to the subjects who all had a positive outlook in regards to treatment. These subjects stated that they wanted to try TT because they either wanted to stop/decrease taking pain medication or they disliked taking pain medication. Post treatment showed that most subjects were without headache pain after receiving TT and they reported feeling more relaxed. Benefit: TT can be used to relieve pain in tension headache sufferers. TT is a cost effective, caring, appropriate nursing intervention that does not require equipment, a physicians order, or supervision. The results of Limitations: Further inquiry needs to be explored and more research funding for complementary therapies, such as TT, to improve the quality of these studies.

Walling, A. (2006). Therapeutic modulation of the psychoneuroimmune system by medical acupuncture creates enhanced feelings of well-being. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 18(4), 135-143. Summary: This article explains how stressors disrupt physiologic regulatory mechanisms leading to disease states, how environmental challenges alter the function of the psychoneuroimmune system, and how correction of aberrant action potentials will stabilize homeostatic regulatory functions, inducing an escape response from stressors and leading to enhanced feelings of well-being. Medical acupuncture is a three-dimensional organizer of the sensory input to the nervous system. The electrical impulses interface with the human/environmental energy fields to therapeutically alter the pattern of the human energy field that, in turn, will have the ability to alter the environmental field. As a result, neuropeptides are released, homeostasis is stabilized, and associated symptoms diminish or disappear. Outcome: Rogers conceptual model is the foundation for the prescriptive theory for nursing interventions presented in this article. This prescriptive theory will allow therapeutic interventions at the primary, secondary, and tertiary level of care. Primary preventive interventions will alter the effects of stress before it leads to illness by assisting in the homeostatic stability of the autonomic nervous system. Secondary interventions will allow treatment of many health conditions regulated by neurological activity. Tertiary care will provide a method to assist autonomic regulation when the body is no longer able to maintain homeostatic stability because of chronic illness or injury. Benefits: Medical acupuncture would lead to stress-induced illness as well as reversing positive feedback actions induced by illness, injury, social defeat, or surgery, thus stabilizing the homeostatic functions of the body. Limitations: It is difficult to measure empirically the threshold of sensory input required to elicit a pattern change, good or bad.

Farren, A. (2009). An oncology case study demonstrating the use of Rogers science of unitary human beings and standardized nursing language. International Journal of Nursing Terminologies and Classifications, 20(1), 34-39. Summary: The purpose of this paper is to present an oncology case study focusing on a womans journey (Mrs. W) through breast cancer treatment and survivorship and a nurses journey to provide holistic care using standardized nursing languages and Rogerss Science of Unitary Human Beings (SUHB). Outcomes: Using Rogerss science, Mrs. W.s health outcomes were viewed as observable manifestations of human field patterning that provide information about changes toward human betterment and well-being. Using the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC), nurses have an opportunity to identify what is hoped to be accomplished by collaborating with individuals for patterning changes to the human-environmental field, as well as to monitor how planned changes are progressing. Benefits: Four weeks into radiation therapy, Mrs. W. and the radiation oncology nurse agreed that overall Quality of Life was at a 3 (moderately satisfied). She was doing better in her relationships, coping, self-concept, and mood. Personal Well-Being was improved. Limitations: If nurses do not recognize an individuals pattern for change, that individuals unique characteristic can get lost in a multidisciplinary approach.

Kao, H., Reeder, F., Hsu, M., & Cheng, S. (2006). A chinese view of the western nursing metaparadigm. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 24(2), 92-101. Summary: The purpose of this article is to reveal Chinese-rooted meanings present within the Western nursing metaparadigm and to illustrate some similarities with Rogerss Science of Unitary Human Beings. The Chinese holistic worldview of Taoism and Confucianism resonates theoretically and cosmically with the dynamic nature of the human-environment mutual relationship basic to Rogers unitary view. Outcomes: Through the energy exchange between both the internal and external environments of nurses and patients, nurses not only can participate in re-establishing the other persons energy pattern with them but also find the value for themselves. Via this circulation, a nurse becomes knowledgeable, wise, and more clearly delineates appropriate roles and functions within the moment and situation. Moreover, nursing can function in both disharmonious and harmonious states. Benefits: Using philosophies from two cultures, health behaviors and healing modalities can be explained and envisioned in a broader context. Nurses may provide people with care that more closely corresponds with their needs and expectations, thus increasing their participation in treatment choices. Limitations: Certain conflicts may exist between the two cultures. There are times when the modern Western definitions of medicine provide focus and language for interdisciplinary communication, but cannot resolve the patients problem. At times, traditional Chinese definitions of basic elements are too abstract to clearly explicate the complicated human response.

DiNucci, E. (2005). Energy healing: a complementary treatment for orthopedic and other conditions. Ortopedic Nursing, 24(4), 259-269. Summary: This paper discusses Energy Healing (EH) becoming a popular complementary and alternative therapy that can be used as an adjunctive treatment for orthopedic and other conditions. It can be integrated in to healthcare and medical settings which can be performed both hands-on and hands-off, and offers patients a self-care alternative. Popular EH modalities include Reiki, Healing Touch, and Therapeutic Touch. Outcomes: Outcome measures were various and included some of the following: self-reported pain and its effect, well-being, health status, median motor nerve distal latency, pain scores, relaxation measures, Performance Improvement tool. Benefits: Negative outcome risk is at or near zero and can be used as an adjunctive treatment that is noninvasive. Increases relaxation and has a beneficial impact on pain, emotional distress and physical healing. Limitations: Potential effects can include being sated with so much energy that patients can experience irritability, restlessness, anxiety, and increased pain. Another limitations is that scientist are unable to define the mechanisms by which EH works.