Alumna Blends Native American Healing Traditions with Western Medicine - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

“I knew astatine a young property that I wanted to beryllium a doc oregon a idiosyncratic who could assistance others heal,” says CU Nursing alumna Michelle Kahn-John, PhD ‘14, MSN ’00, who comes from a agelong enactment of medicine women and men from the Navajo (Diné) Nation, Big Water Clan (Tó’tsohnii) of Fort Defiance, AZ.

Aligning these 2 large influences successful her beingness – Western medicine with Native American Indian healing methods and accepted beliefs – proved to beryllium an absorbing way to walk. One that Kahn-John has maneuvered done gracefully, blending the 2 perspectives.

After earning her ADN successful 1995, followed by her BSN successful 1996 from the University of New Mexico, she has moved done some worlds – incorporating galore Navajo beliefs to assistance her patients portion enlightening her signifier and research. Currently, she is simply a probe chap with the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and continues practicing arsenic a psychiatric intelligence wellness caregiver practitioner.

Differing World Views with the Same Goal

“The 2 person antithetic satellite views. My civilization places little accent connected the idiosyncratic and much connected our inter-relatedness with the satellite and universe. Western medicine is chiefly disease-focused – looking for what’s wrong,” says Dr. Kahn-John.

According to Kahn-John, “Both person the aforesaid extremity – to amended wellness and well-being – we conscionable disagree successful however we get there.”

While Western medicine looks astatine wellness and wellness from a shortage perspective, the Navajo absorption connected re-establishing health, wellness, and equilibrium from a spot of strength, beauty, and hope. “When I’m healthy, my household is healthy, arsenic is my environment. The Diné worldview recognizes the galore dimensions of wellness including the body, mind, spirit, situation and extended household and community. My environment, family, teachings, and civilization are extensions of maine and bespeak my wellness and wellbeing,” explains Kahn-John. The Diné position connected achieving wellness is analyzable and requires extended cognition and alignment with Nature, animals, plants, the Four Directions, Mother Earth, Father Sky, water, air, fire, and familiarity with cycles of quality (day, night, seasons, moon).

For hundreds of years, Native American healing practices were ridiculed, and condemned successful the US. “These accepted cognition systems and practices are ineffable and protected by Native communities. Native contented keepers whitethorn see it inappropriate to probe outcomes of ineffable ceremonial healing practices.” In her work, Kahn-John prioritizes Native sovereignty, taste safety, and respect arsenic she cautiously explores outcomes of Native healing interventions and expands entree to accepted healing for her community.

Nursing Helps Bridge the Gap

Today, we are recognizing the unsocial insights Indigenous cultures bring to aesculapian practice. Kahn-John believes that determination are aggregate paths to healing and wellness, and it is our work to grow our cognition by recognizing the divers wellness needs and existing wellness systems disposable for the radical we serve.

It whitethorn look counterintuitive to integrate accepted healing practices with Western medicine, but Kahn-John says that nursing looks astatine a idiosyncratic holistically and is positioned good to assistance successful achieving culturally harmless integrative practice. A cardinal premise successful nursing is patient-centered care, a caring process which recognizes however spiritual, mental, and affectional well-being person a bearing connected a person’s wide health. Kahn-John’s enactment aligns nicely with the holistic position of Caring Science, a respected mentation successful nursing developed by CU Nursing alum, Dean Emerita, and Living Legend Jean Watson, PhD, whom Kahn-John met and worked with erstwhile attending CU’s MSN program.

“We’re not 100% determination yet – integrating the 2 perspectives – we person overmuch enactment to bash but we are getting there. There is increasing interest, greater cognition development, and the emergence of an unfastened and respectful incorporation of Indigenous healing methods into practice. And that’s a bully thing,” says Kahn-John.

Photo Credit: Valonia Hardy