DOI: 10.1177/08980101261487732 ISSN: 0898-0101

Holistic Nurse Coaching in the Military Health System: A Pilot Study of Competency-Based Training for Disease Management

Theodore T. Urbano, Pamela J. Bishop
Show PDF Cite

Background and Purpose

Chronic disease management within contemporary health care systems increasingly relies on nurses functioning in roles analogous to holistic nurse coaches, emphasizing self-management, behavior change, and whole-person care (American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation. (2023). Nurse coach role and competencies . https://www.ahncc.org ). Within the Military Health System (MHS), chronic illness further affects readiness, resilience, and long-term force sustainability. Despite these demands, onboarding and continuing education for disease management (DM) nurses remain largely task-based and lack standardized, competency-driven preparation grounded in holistic nursing principles. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a competency-based training module on nurses’ knowledge of and self-efficacy to deliver holistic disease management services.

Methods

A one-group pretest–posttest pre-experimental design was used with registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses at a large military medical center. Participants completed a DM knowledge assessment and a self-efficacy questionnaire before and after an asynchronous training module grounded in holistic nursing, nurse coaching, and lifestyle medicine competencies.

Findings

Statistically significant improvements were observed in both knowledge ( p  = .003) and self-efficacy ( p  = <.001) following the intervention.

Conclusions

Findings support competency-based education as an effective strategy for strengthening holistic nurse coaching capacity, workforce readiness, and chronic disease care delivery.

More from our Archive