The Importance of Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Nursing Practice
Many therapies that fall under the umbrella of complementary and alternative medicine have been around for centuries, even Florence Nightingale made reference to it in her holistic care of patients (Snyder & Lindquist, 1998).
Complementary therapies refer to those that complement standard medical treatments while alternative therapy seeks to replace them altogether.
Holistic Approach to Care
Traditional medicine often disregards the relationship and balance among physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Holistic healthcare approaches healthcare differently by emphasizing prevention to improve overall health while decreasing healthcare costs.
As part of their practice, many nurses utilize alternative and complementary therapies in order to support holistic patient health. These supplemental methods are known as complementary health as they complement traditional medical therapies rather than replace them. Examples of such complementary therapies are herbal remedies, aromatherapy and massage therapy.
Complementary and alternative therapies provide clients with numerous advantages, including relaxation and an increase in self-esteem. Furthermore, they may encourage healthier lifestyle habits like dieting and exercise. Nurses who opt to include complementary and alternative therapies as part of their practice will find they are better able to build therapeutic relationships with clients while aiding them on their quest towards optimal health and wellness.
Before performing complementary therapy on their clients, nurses must first assess if it is suitable. Furthermore, nurses must possess both the knowledge and skills to perform it safely. Furthermore, it is essential for nurses to consider any interactions between complementary therapies and client medications, for instance ginkgo biloba may increase bleeding risks when taken by clients taking anticoagulant medicines such as warfarin.
Nurses can incorporate complementary and alternative modalities into their care by searching for practitioners trained to work alongside traditional healthcare providers. They should ensure they understand the scope of practice of Registered Nurses (RN) and only offer complementary health services within this framework. It is also vital for Registered Nurses (RNs) to keep traditional healthcare providers up-to-date on any supplements, vitamins, or other treatments their clients are currently utilizing, to ensure all providers work in coordination to provide effective care. If you want a career as a holistic nurse, consider earning your bachelor’s degree and enroll in one of the available online programs to accelerate your path toward becoming a registered nurse certification.
Increased Knowledge
Nursing professionals have long understood that healing is not solely physical but holistic in its approach, encompassing mind, body and spirit. As more individuals turn to alternative therapies in search of relief from illness or injury, nurses must become knowledgeable of these therapies to offer optimal patient care.
Nurses can help their patients understand the differences between complementary and alternative treatments by explaining their methods for health promotion or disease treatment versus standard medical therapy. Conventional medicine treats diseases through drugs and surgery while complementary medicine strives to restore equilibrium by practicing therapies like acupuncture, meditation or yoga.
Complementary therapies, also referred to as integrative therapy, involve the combination of conventional medical treatment with non-conventional remedies such as complementary diet therapy for treating cancer or alternative medicine prescribed by oncologists. Integrative therapies have become the subject of more research in recent years and should be seen as part of healthcare system; alternative medicine however has received less acceptance and yet further study needs to be conducted on it; using special diet therapy instead of chemotherapy drugs prescribed by an oncologist as one example may be used in treatment plans instead of standard medical treatments such as treating cancer rather than prescribing chemotherapy drugs prescribed by oncologists prescribed by oncologists.
As the RN is often the initial health care professional to interact with her patient, she has an ideal opportunity to encourage complementary and alternative therapies. However, she must remain aware of any associated risks. Any complementary treatment should not interfere with prescription medication prescribed to clients – for instance herbal preparations like Ginkgo biloba may interact negatively with some anticoagulant medications and should not be consumed.
Many RNs have completed courses of study to equip themselves to administer complementary therapies. Nurses should become acquainted with the scope of practice in their local jurisdiction and only perform complementary and alternative modalities that fall under their expertise. If an RN doesn’t understand its clinical evidence base for any therapy she recommends it without first consulting their supervisor; any potential adverse side effects should also be reported immediately.
Patient Education
Nursing professionals have long used complementary and alternative therapies as part of traditional health care approaches to promote healing and wellbeing for their patients. Nurses have an ethical and professional responsibility to support the selection of therapeutic options as well as educate their patients on potential risks and benefits associated with those treatments.
Patient education is an integral component of nursing practice and encompasses providing patients with information about their disease, treatments, prevention measures and self-management strategies. The ultimate aim is to aid individuals’ efforts at making health-related lifestyle changes by increasing knowledge, motivation and compliance with prescribed regimens or healthy practices.
There are various educational models designed to explain health-related behaviors, including the health belief model. According to this theory, individuals’ beliefs regarding susceptibility and severity of disease influence motivation for behavior change. Nurses must be able to determine an adequate level of patient education as well as recognize cultural and psychosocial influences on an individual’s beliefs about health.
Naturopathic medicine encompasses therapies that are grounded in the belief that illness results from imbalances between wind and “qi,” or energy, in the body. Such complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) include herbal remedies, acupuncture and massage therapy; many naturopathic remedies are even sold over-the-counter and recommended by traditional health care practitioners to treat chronic illnesses.
There is increasing evidence that complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) therapies have positive outcomes and should be included as part of clinical practices. Nurses are well trained in assessing the safety of CAM modalities and incorporating them into clinical settings, while advocating for continued funding of the federal Office of Alternative Medicine while supporting efforts by their professional nursing associations to work cooperatively with this entity.
Complementary and alternative therapies present nurses with invaluable teaching opportunities. Students learn to assimilate centuries of healing wisdom while incorporating its practices into Western health care practice. Elsevier’s fifth edition of Complementary & Alternative Therapies for Nursing offers nursing students a simple format for assimilation of alternative healing practices into clinical practice.
Accountability
Alternative and complementary therapies often are perceived to lack high standards of accountability, yet that is simply not the case. Nursing offers an amazing opportunity to bring holistic yet scientifically sound healing practices into healthcare settings, and accountability is one of the core principles taught to RN to BSN programs; nurses must take responsibility for their actions and decisions regardless of directives or policies in order to provide patients with quality care from nurses who take pride in their work.
Complementary and alternative therapies have long been part of nursing. Nightingale advocated back rubs and other healing treatments in her early fundamental nursing texts; nurses have continued incorporating therapeutic approaches in their practice ever since. With increasing popularity of these healing practices comes more questions about nurses’ role in providing them; registered nurses (RN) must communicate clearly that such activities complement rather than replace core nursing activities, and ensure only those therapies within their scope of practice are performed by themselves.
A Registered Nurse must also assess whether complementary therapies, including herbal preparations or other complimentary therapies, could potentially interfere with her client’s medical plan of care, such as by interfering with medication regimens or surgical procedures that the client has undergone. It is her duty to notify both her health care team and physician if there are any potential conflicts between herbal preparations or complementary therapies and the prescribed medical plan or plan.
Nurses have an obligation to ensure that they are trained and competent to incorporate complementary and alternative therapies into their practice, including participating in ongoing research on such therapies and advocating for policies that ensure safe integration into healthcare settings. Studies on complementary therapies can establish a stronger scientific basis and validate their usefulness, helping dispel some of the doubt many individuals harbor towards holistic practices.
