Nursing and alternative medicine
Nursing and alternative medicine
Nursing and alternative medicine
Advances in the healthcare industry, particularly in the treatment of diseases has increasingly affected and changed traditional practices and attitudes in the industry. Coupled with rapid advances in human knowledge, more and more people other than trained or certified health practitioners are getting involved in healthcare what with a corresponding increase in the number of educated consumers on the health care industry.
The increasing knowledge and interested of consumers has led to their becoming more and more involved in health promotion and disease prevention, with a corresponding increased acceptance and demand for alternative and complementary health options. This increase in the power of the consumer vis--vis the traditional patient-provider relationship has necessitated a corresponding challenge to the traditional healthcare practitioners, including the nursing profession.
Nurses must not only recognize and understand this changing and expanding roles but also even more importantly acquire new knowledge and skills to helping patients and families maximize the new opportunities to manage their health.
Traditionally, the nursing profession as a healthcare profession focuses on the care of individuals, families and communities to help them attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. It encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of people of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes not only the care of the sick, disabled and dying people but also the promotion of health and prevention of illness. Nursing also has to do with advocacy, promotion of safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy, in patient and health systems management as well health education.
Nurses also work in a large variety of specialties either independently or as part of other medical team in the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of health care. The nursing profession is a dynamic field of health practice and research that is based in contemporary culture and which concerns itself with both mainstream and marginalized subcultures in order to deliver the most culturally sensitive and competent nursing care.
Thus the nature and scope of nursing makes the profession a quasi autonomous and holistic healthcare profession that can exist and function independent but in collaboration with other medical professionals, mainly doctors and pharmacists. Arising from this professional autonomy and scope of health concern, it has become increasingly necessary for the nursing profession to look beyond the conventional or traditional concepts and practices of medicine and health care as defined and prescribed by allopathic medical system to other areas of health care possibilities and capabilities.
To put it more specifically, the nursing profession must explore and acquire basic or even expert knowledge in the area of alternative medicine which is increasingly gaining acceptance and preference as a better and more effective healthcare option with a corresponding departure from traditional medicine.
Some of the more popular areas of alternative medicine today include acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal remedies. The National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine has suggested that four out of ten Americans will use some form of alternative medicine in the coming year while the World Health Organization has estimated that 80% of people worldwide use herbal medicines and other alternative therapies to combat illness.
In recognition of this changing pattern of healthcare, it is necessary that the nursing profession changes along by nurses and allied professionals updating their knowledge and skill in the are of alternative medicine. This is important for three main reasons. One is so that nurses can be in position to perform their role and services to healthcare consumers according to their needs and preferences and two is s that nurses avoid the avoidable situation where they become out of date and out of tune with the healthcare environment of the new age. Thirdly and most importantly, in the healthcare industry, it is generally the nurses more than any other branch of healthcare spends the most time with patients, whether in the hospital or in the homes, recording their complaints, symptoms, histories and other information and generally monitoring a patient's response to medications. In this regard, nurses of today need to know if a patient is taking any herbal medication, because certain herbs can interfere with standard medications.
It is therefore a good development that the American government has spent more than $22 million to help medical and nursing schools start teaching about alternative medicine and many nursing programs and nursing schools have increasingly recognized the new trend in healthcare and updating and adjusting their curriculum accordingly while some accelerated nursing programs are now teaching courses in alternative medicine. It is expected that other nursing programs and schools in the USA take a cue from these schools and programs. It is equally expected that the American Nursing authorities should chart new syllabuses and guideline for nursing training and certification programs and schools in the US.
Visit nursingdotcom/cnatraining
Medical Debt Negotiation - How FTC Laws Make Medical Debt Settlement Easier Get to a Drug Rehab to Quit Your Addiction Safely and Surely Controlling Ejaculation Techniques- Easy Drug Free Techniques to Last Longer in Bed Global Cardiac Medical Devices is expected to reach US$65.6 billion by 2015, Axis Research Mind Reports Medical Billing Certification: Certification Examination for the Medical Billing Specialist Know How To Get Medical Care At Least Even In Your Own Language Drug Rehab - How To Choose The Right Center? The Role of ROI in Medical Record Processing Medical Phobias? How to Get Over Them Defective Drugs and Medical Malpractice Cherokee Medical Scrubs can be found in the following categories: Scrubs HQ, Basic Scrubs, and Cherokee Workwear Cotton Medical Scrubs Vagifem prescription medicine