Exploring the scientific bases of holistic nursing.

This paper reviews research findings that validate the use of holistic interventions in nursing practice. The resurgence of interest in alternative therapies for health care requires the dissemination of facts about their efficacy. Reviewed herein are the interventions of relaxation, therapeutic touch, imagery, and humor. The author contends that these interventions are both appropriate and advantageous additions to nurses' repertoires and calls for increased acceptance of the phenomenologic methods already developed for the unique science of nursing.