The growth of complementary therapies: and their benefits in the perioperative setting

Complementary therapies support and enhance the quality of life and people's wellbeing. Increasingly, people are seeking out complementary therapies in managing their healthcare. Practitioners in the perioperative setting, who are at the forefront of healthcare delivery, should be aware of the current complementary therapies available to patients, including the potential benefits and any contraindications of the therapies.

Complementary and Alternative Therapies: A New Frontier for Nursing Education?

The field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is relatively new to Western health care and scientific research. The American public is embracing the use of CAM, and consequently, health care professionals will have to integrate these therapies into their professional practice. With the addition of basic CAM components to the newest NCLEX-RN blueprint, nursing education programs at all levels must incorporate CAM into their curricula. There are challenges to be faced with the implementation of added content, but nurse educators have successfully faced these challenges in the past. Specific strategies for integrating CAM topics into nursing curricula are discussed.

Complementary therapies and healing practices: faculty/student beliefs and attitudes and the implications for nursing education

The purpose of this study was to describe the knowledge and attitudes of nursing faculty and students (BSN and MS) regarding complementary/alternative therapies (C/AT) and their integration into nursing practice. Implications for curricular and faculty development were also identified. A cross-sectional survey (n = 170) of graduating BSN students (n = 73) and MS and PhD students (n = 47) and faculty (n = 50) was conducted in a university-based nursing program. The self-administered questionnaire contained 134 forced choice items. Questions assessed attitudes and knowledge about training in, personal use of, perceived barriers to, and intent to integrate C/AT into clinical practice. Over 95 percent of the students and faculty agreed that clinical care should integrate the best of conventional and C/AT practices. Few had received formal C/AT education; the highest number had received some education about massage, music, prayer/spiritual healing, and therapeutic/healing touch. They desired more education but not necessarily the skills to perform these therapies themselves. Faculty and students expressed positive attitudes about incorporating C/AT into curricula and nursing practice. Current knowledge lags behind interest, however, suggesting a situation ripe for change. The most important perceived barrier to incorporation was lack of evidence. Curricular change is needed to fully integrate C/AT in nursing programs at all levels; faculty development and nursing research is needed to facilitate these changes.