Institute for Health and Healing Director Named Holistic Nurse of the Year.MINNEAPOLIS -- Lori Knutson, director of Abbott Northwestern Hospital's Institute for Health and Healing, has been named the 2006 American Holistic Nurse of the Year by the American Holistic Nursing Association American Holistic Nursing Association (  ·merˑ·i·k (AHNA AHNA American Holistic Nurses' Association ). The AHNA is a national organization designed to provide vision, direction and leadership for the advancement of complementary and alternative healing alternative healing Natural healing A philosophical stance based on alternative medicine principles, in which a person is returned to a state of well-being through a therapy that is not 'mainstream' in nature. See Alternative medicine. practices. The nurse of the year award is presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of holistic nursing holistic nursing, n philosophy of nursing that seeks to facilitate patient healing by creating a caring, interactive atmosphere; incorporates energy field principles, patient em-powerment, scientific knowledge, and personal interaction to assist patients . Knutson, RN, is a healing touch practitioner and a biofeedback biofeedback, method for learning to increase one's ability to control biological responses, such as blood pressure, muscle tension, and heart rate. Sophisticated instruments are often used to measure physiological responses and make them apparent to the patient, who therapist who has been with Abbott Northwestern since 1986. Her conventional nursing practice focused on physical medicine and rehabilitation physical medicine and rehabilitation or physiatry or physical therapy or rehabilitation medicine Medical specialty treating chronic disabilities through physical means to help patients return to a comfortable, productive life despite a medical with the Sister Kenny(R) Rehabilitation Institute, and she has worked as a nurse manager, nurse clinician and nurse educator A nurse educator is a nurse who teaches and prepares licensed practical nurses (LPN) and registered nurses (RN) for entry into practice positions. Nurse Educators also teach in graduate programs at Master’s and doctoral level which prepare advanced practice nurses, nurse . Knutson has served as director of the Institute for Health and Healing since 2000. In nomination letters for the award, she is credited with playing a key role in bringing together physicians, hospital leadership, nurses, staff and philanthropic partners to make the Institute for Health and Healing a national model for how hospitals can combine the best of both conventional and alternative medicine. "Lori Knutson is a champion for patients and for holistic nursing," said Jeanne Crawford, executive director of the AHNA. "Her commitment to treating the total patient is unsurpassed and her contributions to holistic nursing make a positive difference in lives of patients every day." The Institute for Health and Healing, which is located at Abbott Northwestern Hospital at the corner of East 28th Street and Chicago Avenue, is the largest holistic nurse-directed integrative health care program in the country. Each month 1,600 patients receive inpatient and outpatient services outpatient services Hospital-based services Managed care Medical and other services provided, to a nonadmitted Pt, by a hospital or other qualified facility–eg, mental health clinic, rural health clinic, mobile X-ray unit, free-standing dialysis unit Examples from holistic nurse clinicians, fulltime massage therapists, acupuncturists, a reflexologist and a music therapist. The American Holistic Nurses Association was founded in 1981. With 3,000 plus members, the association works to transform health care through activities such as promoting holistic care on a national level, developing standards for Holistic Nursing Practice and publishing and supporting rigorous and credible research. Minneapolis-based Abbott Northwestern Hospital is part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a non-profit network of hospitals, clinics and other health care services. Abbott Northwestern is found online at www.abbottnorthwestern.com. |
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