Associate Organizations

• Relationship-
  Centered Care Network
• Center For Health and Learning at St. Charles
• Craig Hospital
• Healing HealthCare Systems, Inc.
• The Creative Connection
• Healing Journeys
• Woodwinds Health Campus

"We are the ones we have been waiting for."

–Elder Wisdom

 

Living the Vision: Holistic Nursing at Woodwinds Health Campus

Woodwinds Health Campus
1925 Woodwinds Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125
651-232-0100
www.woodwinds.org

$500 AHHCP Supporting Member

Among the many incredible healthcare advances that will be credited to the 21st century is the remarkable transformation of the patient care experience taking place at Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury, Minnesota. With a vision imagined and designed by the local community, in concert with healthcare leaders of the HealthEast Care System, Woodwinds is changing the healing process by delivering care with compassion, by addressing the spectrum of needs a patient has (both clinical and non-clinical), and by offering choices to patients looking for ways to augment their recovery.

The local community desired an innovative, community-based healthcare system that embraced integrative services as well as state-of-the-art technological care provided from a place of compassion and service. Woodwinds listened. Designing and building a new hospital—with a new philosophy—afforded Woodwinds the rare opportunity of handpicking its new staff. Embracing this gift, Woodwinds was able to choose healthcare providers very carefully, ensuring that the individual was committed to the provision of holistic healthcare and participating in developing a healing healthcare culture. Woodwinds also took advantage of the opportunity to build in a support structure for its new culture by creating an Integrative Health Services Department, with leadership by a nurse with a broad background in the healing arts as well as certification as a holistic nurse.

The seeds of holism are planted and nurtured on many fronts and in various venues, beginning with New Employee Orientation. Staff members are engaged from day one in the Woodwinds vision—"to re-create the healthcare experience in a way that has not been done before"—and are provided thoughtful education on the Woodwinds Compassionate Service philosophy. In support of creating a balance between holistic care and well being, nurses also attend a two-day seminar specific to Holistic Nursing Practice at Woodwinds.

Besides the great gift of practicing in a facility that incorporates patient- and family-centered ideals such as private patient rooms, the absence of visiting hours, and accommodations for overnight stays for patients’ support persons, nurses work in physical facilities immersed and supported by the beauty of nature evident in every window. Daylight and exposure to the outdoors is abundant, with floor-to-ceiling windows in the hospital's main Towne Center, creating an airy atmosphere that invites easy visual orientation with the surroundings. Waiting areas are arranged with a focus toward distinctive natural wood feature walls, fireplaces, or panoramic outdoor views.

Our nursing practice at Woodwinds includes the integration of the following holistic modalities: healing touch, use of essential oils, guided imagery, music therapy, massage, and acupressure. We are committed to providing holistic nursing education on our campus for nurses to receive their required education in Holistic Nursing and to support those who wish to seek certification.

With our partners, the Natural Care Center of Northwestern Health Sciences University and Children's Hospital and Clinics, Woodwinds Health Campus is committed to providing comprehensive community-based healthcare using integrative therapies and many other strategies to support the healing of our patients and their families. We aspire to be the difference that makes the difference.

Valerie Lincoln, RN, PhD, HNC
Integrative Health Services Leader
(651) 232-0607