Abstract
Japan's national healthcare system is based solely on modern medicine. This study aims to clarify the expectations surrounding CAM and the factors hindering the pract ice of CAM in nursing. The in formants for the interview survey were five nurses who have had professional training in aro matherapy. We asked them about their expectations ofCAM and about the difficu lty of nursing care as a CAM practitioner. Whether or not informants were using CAM in their work, they understood the difficulty nursesface in attempting to practice CAM therapy.We found thatapproval of the boss and co-workers is indispensable for using CAMin nursing care. In addition, the practit ioner must show evidence that the therapy works . Informants spoke of the difficultyofshowing evidence when it is not possible to do a clinical study. On the other hand, the view on the value of CAMnursing may be revisedif nurses can show the evidence for its efficacy and if the therapy can become more widespread.Nursing science may be able to contribute to the ev idence, and healthcare system reform could facilitate its wider use.
Highlights
Over the past decade, there has been a growing interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in nursing[1][2]
As of 2009, 581 nursing articles about CAM had been published in the Japan CentraRevuoMedicina, which accounted for 5.4% of all art icles (14,483), including both medicine and psychology[1]
In Japan, such practices as aromatherapy and reflexo logy, which are part of CAM, are not considered to be a part of nursing care.Many nurses, consider that it is important to adopt CAM in clin ical nursing[4][5][6], and many of them act ively participate in seminars to study CAM[5][6]
Summary
There has been a growing interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in nursing[1][2]. As of 2009, 581 nursing articles about CAM had been published in the Japan CentraRevuoMedicina, which accounted for 5.4% of all art icles (14,483), including both medicine and psychology[1]. In Japan, such practices as aromatherapy and reflexo logy, which are part of CAM, are not considered to be a part of nursing care.Many nurses, consider that it is important to adopt CAM in clin ical nursing[4][5][6], and many of them act ively participate in seminars to study CAM[5][6]. In our survey[7], which involved nurses working at university hospitals in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, the results indicated a growing awareness of CAM, especially aromatherapy, reflexo logy, and music therapy. Of the 92.7% of nurses who considered it important to adopt CAM in nursing, those who have administeredit accounted for only 52.1%
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
