Nursing Blog Complimentary Medicine: Should You Be Paying Attention?
Complimentary Medicine: Should You Be Paying Attention?
Two out of every three Australians have used complementary therapies in the last 12 months in 2011, according to the National Institute of Complementary Medicine, and 42 percent of those patients are using the therapy to treat high priority illnesses. As a nurse, you cannot afford to ignore something that may impact a patient's health so acutely.
Types of Complementary Medicine
Part of the problem with complementary and alternative medicine comes from determining what it is exactly. Diet is sometimes seen as a complementary medicine, but any mainstream nurse will tell a patient with high cholesterol to eat a low-fat, heart healthy diet. Even supplements such as fish oil are now widely recommended by such respected bodies as the American Heart Association for the prevention of heart disease. However, practices such as reiki, acupuncture, yoga, aroma therapy, therapeutic touch, herbal therapy, homeopathy and chiropractic medicine do not have the backing of scientific research.
Western Science vs. Complementary Medicine
Part of the problem with complementary medicines is that you cannot capture it well in scientific studies. Often, the therapies focus on the overall wellness on the patient, and that is difficult to quantify in a laboratory setting. For instance, it is almost impossible to introduce a placebo group for the purpose of double-blind testing in the research of acupuncture, according to "Health Science Journal." Participants are still able to tell when they are getting the treatment with the needles, regardless of blinding procedures. Still, western science can uncover some quackery that complementary medicine might try to pass off. Testing a supplement under rigorous double-blinding can work the same for a mainstream drug as for a supplement. This is when a nurse becomes the voice of reason for a patient, and can recommend against certain practices that have proven ineffective.
Safety Concerns
The issue comes down to safety in the end. A patient might go to a complementary healer instead of a doctor and miss out on life-saving traditional treatment. They might take a supplement that harms them. More importantly, they might hide these practices from their doctor and the two therapies might conflict with each other. This is where nurses, with our compassionate care, have to step in and advocate for our patients. If the patient decides to take supplements because they believe it will help them, then a nurse needs to support that patient's right to choose. However, a nurse must also protect the patient's safety. Check that supplement against the other drugs in the patient's medication history and make sure there are no interactions that will bring them harm.
It is in this particular light that nurses need awareness of complementary medicine. Patients will seek out other modes of care. You cannot change that, just like you cannot change the diabetic who eats ice cream. You can try to educate the patient about the risks and benefits of the practices they participate in, and this requires your own knowledge of those practices. You can do your patient the most benefit by keeping your patient's trust in you and helping them seeking care they need in a way that will keep them from harm.
References
National Institute of Complementary Medicine; Cost Effective Applications of Complementary and Alternative Medicine; June 2011 http://www.nicm.edu.au/content/view/174/295/
Health Science Journal; Nurses' Attitudes Towards Complementary Therapies; Fountouki Antigoni, et. al.; 2009 http://www.hsj.gr/volume3/issue3/334.pdf
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing; Ethics: Ethical Issues in Complementary/Alternative Therapies; Mary Cipriano Silva, PhD, RN, FAAN and Ruth Ludwick, PhD, RN, C; January 2002 |
When taking a medical and drug history from a patient, it is important to ask what complementary therapies they are using. Sometimes, it is surprising the amount of supplements, therapies and alternative practitioners patients use in the hopes of getting better.