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of educational programs is comprehensive and includes the philosophy of holistic care, it will enable nursing students to address the various needs of patients and provide holistic care. One of the nurses emphasized the role of education in providing holistic care and said: The content of the courses deeply affected my attitude toward patients and their needs; the courses on “nursing procedures” and “psychological disorders” made me stop looking at a patient only in terms of physicality and understand that an individual is more than a body with certain needs; it made me consider a patient's entire dimensions; I realized that health is the equivalent of harmony and balance among a patient's whole dimensions, not simply physical well-being. (Participant 8) The above quotation points to the important role of designed courses in training nurses in holistic care. Another participant, similarly, referred to the importance of “nursing procedures” in creating an inclusive perception and promoting holistic care: The course on nursing procedures broadened my horizons about patients and made me see aspects that I had been unaware of; I understood that well-being is the result of meeting a patient's various needs, from physical needs through emotional and spiritual needs to social, cultural and economic needs. (Participant 2) The same participant, however, observed that the course of “nursing procedures” did not have enough credits and that they were not adequately trained in providing holistic care: The course was too short and the training was not enough. But I was interested and regarded it as a specialized part of nursing; I practiced a lot and gradually learned how to exercise it. I wish the trainers had instructed us properly; then I would have realized the importance of it sooner. Unfortunately, the data show that the content of the educational program is poor and lacks material on the various needs of patients. Regarding this issue, one of the nurses explained: More than 90% of our lessons were about the physical problems of patients, and their other needs were usually neglected. (Participant 5) Another participant expressed: During the course, most of our education was about the physical problems of patients and dealing with them. So, by the end of the course, our knowledge of the physical needs of patients had increased, but we didn’t know anything about the whole needs of patients and their role in the treatment. (Participant 6) Another nurse explained: Clinical training was too short and we didn’t have enough time to establish a relationship with the patients to recognize their various problems. (Participant 13) Teaching methods Teaching methods are part of the educational structure and play an important role in holistic care formation. But, according to the results, the teaching methods are not designed to demonstrate holistic care. In this regard, one of the participants said: The teaching methods were often educator-centered; a limited number of tasks were dictated and we were expected to do them only; we were not free to consider the other needs of patients and satisfy them. (Participant 3) Practice-based teaching can increase nursing students’ understanding of holistic care, but the data showed that the nursing educators did not consider this matter and focused on theory-based teaching. One of the nurses stated: We did not receive any practical training in considering patients’ various needs. In our education, we were not told that a patient is a whole with many different aspects and whose treatment requires that we consider all those aspects; although some of the educators advised us to consider the secondary needs of patients, there was no practical training in this field. (Participant 9) The educators’ competence The educators’ characteristics and competence have been introduced as a component of the educational structure in this study; educators can provide the trainees with a practical model from which to learn the principles of holistic care in practice. A participant said regarding this issue: One of our educators was sensitive to the various needs of patients, treated them with respect and attended to their various needs. Her manners influenced my behavior. Now, I try to use her lessons in practice and provide my patients with comfort by addressing their various needs. (Participant 6) Similarly, a participant referring to her trainer's holistic perception and emphasis on holistic care remarked: One of our trainers always stressed that we view a patient as a whole that has different needs; she was trying to have us realize that well-being is the result of creating a harmony among the various parts of the whole and not just the physical dimensions. My trainer's attitude greatly affected my manner of nursing: I try to attend to my patients’ entire needs, not just the physical ones, and consider their emotional, spiritual, cultural and social needs. I believe that meeting all these needs at the same time rather than separately is much more effective. But the results show that most of the participants had no practical model for learning holistic care during their education. One of the nurses said: Most of our educators had limited knowledge of the various aspects of patients’ needs and their effects on health recovery and paid little attention to these matters. They paid more attention to routine tasks, and we didn’t have an actual
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