Oncology nurses' attitudes towards alternative medicine

Salmenperä, L.

doi:10.1016/s0959-8049(99)80907-1

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Nurses tend to report skepticism toward CAM therapies, with some willing to classify at least several alternative therapies as "nonsense" (Damkier, Elverdam, Glasdam, Jensen, & Rose, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999;Salmenperä, Suominen, & Lauri, 1998). Nurses' concerns about patients' use of CAM include the potential for delayed or discontinued conventional treatments, harmful interactions with conventional or other alternative therapies, and the possibility that vulnerable patients will be taken advantage of by alternative providers offering harmful or ineffective therapies at monetary cost to the patient (Berg, Gagan, Amella, & McArthur, 1998;Damkier et al, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999;Salmenperä et al, 1998).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nurses' concerns about patients' use of CAM include the potential for delayed or discontinued conventional treatments, harmful interactions with conventional or other alternative therapies, and the possibility that vulnerable patients will be taken advantage of by alternative providers offering harmful or ineffective therapies at monetary cost to the patient (Berg, Gagan, Amella, & McArthur, 1998;Damkier et al, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999;Salmenperä et al, 1998). However, some nurses do make recommendations to patients, usually for the least invasive and lowest risk therapies, such as massage and visualization (Damkier et al, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A majority of nurses are receptive to exploring ways to integrate complementary therapies with conventional medicine (Damkier et al, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999;Gray et al, 1998;Salmenperä et al, 1998). Some nurses are already recommending specific complementary therapies to some patients (Damkier et al, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999;Salmenperä et al, 1998), although with a strong sense that conventional treatments should not be compromised or discontinued.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some nurses are already recommending specific complementary therapies to some patients (Damkier et al, 1998;Fitch et al, 1999;Salmenperä et al, 1998), although with a strong sense that conventional treatments should not be compromised or discontinued. Consistent with nurses' holistic focus on comfort and support of the patient, nurses see their role in integrative medicine as providing patient education, encouraging dialogue, facilitating patient decision making, and supporting patients' choices (Fitch et al, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cancer CAM™: Web-Based Continuing Education for Health Professionals

Brink¹,

McFarren

Lincoln³

et al. 2004

Complementary health practice review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nurses and health educators who work with cancer patients are often asked about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. "CAM and the Prostate Cancer Patient" is the prototype module for an online continuing education series on CAM. More than 60 nurses and health educators tested the product online. Outcome data indicate that such a program can increase learners' CAM knowledge and perceived self-efficacy in addressing patient questions about CAM. Qualitative responses from testers indicate an appreciation for a balanced approach to the material. Testers found the combination of academic information with professional and patient tips to be useful.Keywords: complementary medicine; cancer; nurse continuing education; CAM Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been variously described, most often defined as those treatments, interventions, and health care practices not taught widely in medical schools, not generally available in hospitals, and often not reimbursed by medical insurance companies (Eisenberg et al., 1998; Office on Alternative Medicine, 1998). Included in this necessarily broad definition are many different practices and therapies, some more widely practiced and/or accepted than others in the United States and other countries with a primarily biomedical health care tradition. Although there is an extensive literature on CAM treatments and cancer, the literature on the efficacy of CAM treatments on cancer survival, side effects, or quality of life is limited with only a few studies that employ the rigor of a randomized clinical trial (Ernst, 2001;Jacobson, Workman, & Kronenberg, 1999, 2000Tagliaferri, Cohen, & Tripathy, 2001). Nurses and other health professionals who work with cancer patients need to be aware of the scientific evidence, when available, and evidence at other levels such as the Best Case Series program (National Cancer Institute, 2001) so they can provide accurate information and guidance to patients. This article describes the formative evaluation of a Web-based continuing education program for nurses and patient health educators on CAM for cancer patients. The outcome data reported here are from the prototype module "CAM and the Prostate Cancer Patient." Development and evaluation of the Cancer CAM ™ continuing education program were based on a two-stage process of formative evaluation. A pilot test assessed the feasibility of the Webbased product to engage nurses and to increase knowledge of CAM, communication skills related to CAM, and self-efficacy related to discussing CAM with patients and colleagues. The results of this pilot test were used to complete the applications for nursing continuing education units (CEUs) and certified health education specialist (CHES) credits and to finetune the prototype module. Based on suggestions from the advisers and nurse pilot testers, health/patient educators were added as a second audience for CAM-related continuing education, and an e-book format was introduced. An evaluation of the prototype addressed the questions o...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Cancer CAM™: Web-Based Continuing Education for Health Professionals

Brink¹,

McFarren

Lincoln³

et al. 2004

Complementary health practice review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…En Finlande, l'analyse des données recueillies par le biais d'un questionnaire auprès de 92 infirmières en oncologie révélait qu'elles ne considéraient pas la médecine parallèle comme une méthode sécuritaire et naturelle de traitement anticancéreux (Salmenpera, Suominen et Lauri, 1998). Les infirmières étaient nombreuses à penser que les thérapies parallèles sont offertes par des charlatans dans une optique de profit financier.…”

unclassified

Expériences d’infirmières en oncologie concernant l’utilisation, par les patients, de thérapies complémentaires et de thérapies parallèles

Fitch¹,

Pavlin²,

Gabel³

et al. 2002

CONJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Use of and attitudes held towards unconventional medicine by patients in a department of internal medicine / oncology and haematology

Kappauf¹,

Leykauf‐Ammon²,

Bruntsch³

et al. 2000

Supportive Care in Cancer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A sizeable percentage of patients receiving conventional medical treatment also use unconventional medicine (UM). Surveys indicate that the prevalence of and motivation for the pursuit of the different approaches of UM is subject to individual, geographical, cultural and disease-related factors. We were interested in the concurrent use of and attitudes towards UM in patients who underwent conventional medical treatment in our oncologically orientated department of internal medicine in a regionally dominant teaching hospital. A representative sample (n = 131) of all inpatients and outpatients receiving treatment in the department or in its oncological/haematological outpatient clinic were asked to participate in a cross-sectional interview study on the use of unconventional therapies. In all, 128 patients (97.7%) agreed to participate in the study, and 65% of these patients were suffering from malignancies. Use of unconventional treatment was reported by 24% of all patients for their current medical problem, and 16% of the remaining patients had been thinking of adjunctive use. The use of UM was significantly higher among oncological patients (32%), and among oncological outpatients in particular (50%), than among patients with acute or chronic non-malignant diseases. Female patients predominated among the users of UM (71%). UM mainly took the form of various pharmacological and dietary approaches. Patients availing themselves of UM most frequently identified physicians (41%) as the source of treatment recommendation. Only 18% of the users of UM relied on these methods as a chance of cure. Use of UM was not generally motivated by dissatisfaction with conventional medical care. Only half the users informed their hospital physician of their adjunctive use of UM. Nearly 2 out of 3 of the users contended that UM had contributed to a mild or distinct improvement in their physical or psychological wellbeing. The use of UM in modern health care systems represents a widespread and intricate phenomenon, which cannot be understood by focusing exclusively on the objective assessment of clinical efficacy. Use of UM may be related more to a disease's unfavourable attribution than to its medically expected outcome. Coherence with individual illness paradigms and perceived efficacy are apparently important factors in patients' use of UM. These subjective aspects need to be recognised in caring patient-doctor communication.

show abstract

Oncology nurses' attitudes towards alternative medicine

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Cancer CAM™: Web-Based Continuing Education for Health Professionals

Cancer CAM™: Web-Based Continuing Education for Health Professionals

Expériences d’infirmières en oncologie concernant l’utilisation, par les patients, de thérapies complémentaires et de thérapies parallèles

Use of and attitudes held towards unconventional medicine by patients in a department of internal medicine / oncology and haematology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About