LYNNFIELD — For Kristen Reed, holistic improvement of someone’s health works by improving every part of their life.
“I’ve always been into the idea of integrative, proactive healthcare where we’re integrating all different components of healing modalities and really seeing patients and people as the whole person and not just their disease or their surgery — really taking a look at the entire body and systems,” Reed said. “When I came to Boston, I really started to hone in on that and became even more passionate about it.”
She began to work on holistic nursing initiatives for patients and staff within her unit, going on to receive her board certification in holistic nursing with the intention of creating a wellness program for Brigham and Women’s.
Called Wellness Days, the program was originally held in a room at the hospital where staff was offered access to multiple healing modalities, including music, aromatherapy, and massages.
A nurse for more than a decade, Reed started her career with inpatient nursing before transitioning to travel nursing, wanting to pursue an opportunity to see the country while offering her services in different medical centers as part of short-term assignments.
“I had a colleague who had done it and she said ‘I think you would be great at it.’ I had never heard of travel nursing, but that night I looked into it and within two weeks, I gave my resignation and set off,” she said. “I got to see the country and work with all different patient populations and really broaden my skill set as a nurse.”
When Reed was assigned to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, she immediately fell in love with the city and ultimately extended her contract from 13 weeks to almost a year.
Moving to Lynnfield in 2018 with her fiancé offered Reed the small-town feel they wanted to embrace and coincided with her inspiration to delve further into holistic wellness.
Reed launched into conducting guided meditations and discussions about mindfulness and gratitude while healthy snacks and tea were provided to attendees.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Reed to retool her Wellness Days, pivoting from individual holistic sessions to Zoom sessions.
She thinks wellness has achieved heightened importance during the pandemic, with people battling stress caused by isolation, employment anxiety and an array of other stressors. Achieving wellness couldn’t be more important for frontline health workers.
“Because it’s Zoom and it’s virtual, we encourage people to come if they have the day off, and we offer different days and times so we can touch on people’s needs depending on what shifts they work,” she said. “They come from the comfort of their own home. They’re not worried about finding people to watch their patients, and it allows them a sense of security and a little more privacy to be at home, and even keep the video off if they don’t feel comfortable. They really experience it at their own level.”
Reed, who also provides health and wellness coaching and Reiki therapy to individuals and groups through her private practice, has been recognized on a larger scale for her work.
In 2019, she was awarded the Holistic Nursing Rising Star Award at the American Holistic Nurses Association’s 39th annual conference.
The award recognizes a nurse who dedicates himself or herself to a holistic path, applies creative holistic practices, and epitomizes holism in their personal and professional life.
“This is my heart’s passion. The work I do completely fills me up, and it’s from getting to witness my clients and my patients and even my colleagues really come to awareness of how they can make their lives better and feel their best,” Reed said. “When they feel their best, everything changes. They just have this light inside them that turns on and has a trickle effect into every other area of their life.
“I think just getting to witness that is the most rewarding thing I could ever ask for.”
More information on Reed’s services is available on her website, www.nursingyourwaytowellness.com.
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
