Using complementary therapies within nursing: some ethical and legal considerations.
Increasing numbers of health professionals are incorporating complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies into their work. Nurses, in particular, are embracing CAM techniques, which may fit well within their philosophy of care for their patients and which may, instinctively, be more holistic than the approach of their medical counterparts. Patients, who may be distillusioned with conventional approaches to treatment, appear to express high levels of satisfaction in receiving these therapies and nurses clearly enjoy giving them. Beyond patient preference for CAM therapies though, there is still a paucity of clinical evidence to support the wider integration of CAM into the NHS. This article focuses on some of the ethical and legal considerations raised by nurses who employ, or are considering employing, CAM techniques as part of their NHS work, looking, in particular, at the need to ensure patient safety whilst at the same time protecting nurses from criticism or censure.
Stone
J
J
School of Health, University of Greenwich, London, UK.
D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D018939:Holistic Nursing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D006113:United Kingdom