FORT WAYNE — Sarah Weaver, RN, MSN, FNP-C, HN-BC, was awarded the 2016 Holistic Nursing Rising Star Award at the American Holistic Nurses Association 36th annual conference.

Holistic nursing focuses on integrating traditional, complementary and alternative treatment opportunities to improve the physical, mental, emotional and relational health of the whole person. This award recognizes nurses who have dedicated themselves to a holistic path and have applied creative holistic practices and epitomize holism in their personal and professional lives.

“Holistic nursing is about empowering nurses, providing excellent care to patients, creating an environment of optimal healing and using evidence-based practice to make clinical decisions,” Weaver said. “At the same time, there is a focus on self-care for nurses. It’s the only specialty with self-care as a focus – and that crosses all types of nursing.”

Weaver is a graduate of the University of Saint Francis with a master’s degree in nursing and is an integrative nurse oractitioner. Weaver has worked tirelessly to bring holistic nursing to our community since joining the AHNA in 2011. Discovering the organization during a research project for an integrative medicine class, she joined and soon signed up to be a chapter leader. In 2013, she worked with a team of nurses to coordinate a holistic nursing certification training program and offered the training to 38 area nurses. The program inspired Parkview Health’s holistic nursing program, which has grown to include more than 50 holistic nursing champions throughout the communities Parkview serves.

Weaver believes a tree serves as the best visual representation of holistic nursing. “The tree signifies getting our roots in as nurses and reaching to solve the problem for the patients. It’s also about being well-rooted and having an ability to center yourself when you’re stressed. It’s the feeling of things coming back around – the interconnectedness of nature, health and life.”