To Feel Whole

"There is in all things visible a hidden wholeness"     

 Thomas Merton

   What does it mean to feel whole?   Individuals who have a sense of wholeness feel complete.  They feel fulfilled and content. The opposite is to feel emptiness and a void.  Teeri, Kilpi, & Valimaki (2006) described this sense of inner wholeness as having integrity.  It stems from the Latin adjective integer which means to be whole or complete.  These researchers used interview data obtained from elderly patients, relatives, and nurses to examine feelings of residents in LTC.  They found three common problems faced by residents in nursing homes.

    First were problems related to a patient’s psychological integrity.  Psychological integrity includes the right to make your own decisions and to feel respect for one’s human dignity.

    Second were problems related to physical integrity.   Physical integrity includes the concern over being dependent on another and the compassion and respect of those involved in responding to physical needs

   Third were problems related to social integrity.  Social integrity includes the problem of loneliness and the need to be involved with others within the institution and from the outside world.   

   As leaders, we need to be aware how this impacts the quality of our resident’s lives.  We must work to combat the problems that impact integrity. In coming posts we will examine each of these three problems in more detail and discuss ways to help our residents to have integrity.

Teeri, H., Kilpi, H., Valmaki, M. (2006).  Long-term nursing care of elderly people: identifying ethically problematic experiences among patients, relatives, and nurses in Finland.  Nursing Ethics, 13(2), 116-129.