Complementary Therapy

Approved:          January, 2011

Approved by:     National Assembly

Complementary therapies (CT) can be defined as those therapies used in addition to conventional treatment, including deep breathing exercises, relaxation training, massage therapy, reflexology, biofeedback, and creative therapies, including art, music, or dance therapy (Fontaine, 2000; Pelletier, 2000).

WHEREAS researchers have clearly demonstrated that CT are an effective and cost efficient approach to nursing care for example, breathing relaxation exercises can reduce the need for opioids for pain management during chest tube removal (Friesner, Curry, and Modderman, 2006), massage therapy can reduce the use of analgesics and the need for antidepressant medicines (Leonie, 2005), relaxation training can significantly reduce blood pressure (Yung, French, and Leung, 2001) and CT nursing interventions are inexpensive, non-invasive, self-administered, and elicit little to no side effects, (Lai and Hsieh, 2003),

WHEREAS public interest in and use of CT has increased significantly in the past decade, and nursing is in a strategic position to be a leader in integrating these therapies into the Western biomedical health model and in conducting research on the use of CT (Snyder and Lindquist, 2001),

WHEREAS CT are already used in several Canadian acute care centers such as the Toronto East General Hospital, the Hamilton Civic Hospital, the St. Joseph’s Health Center, and the Tzu Chi Institute in Vancouver,

WHEREAS many CT are within the scope of nursing practice as defined by Canadian nursing practice legislation, e.g. therapeutic touch, and message therapy,

WHEREAS researchers have suggested that nurses are underutilizing CT including music therapy, biofeedback, therapeutic touch, and counseling (Tracy et al, 2005),

WHEREAS the CNSA as a member of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), expects nurses to facilitate and respect the client’s right to informed choice for treatment, and to incorporate the client’s personal strengths and resources in meeting self- care needs,

WHEREAS research supports incorporating education regarding CT into nursing education programs to prepare nursing students for professional practice (Groft and Kolischuck, 2005)

BE IT RESOLVED that CNSA recognize that CT are effective and cost efficient approaches to nursing care across the life span, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the CNSA advocate for nursing education programs that prepare nursing students to implement CT, advocate for CT in practice, and enable nursing students to educate their clients about complementary therapy options.

Submitted by:

Rod Simmons

Neeta Uppal

Mario Cotic

Leslie Hynes

References

Friesner, S.A., Curry, D.M., & Maddeman, G.R. (2006). Comparison of two pain- management strategies during chest tube removal: relaxation exercises with opioids and opioids alone. Heart & Lung, 35, 269-276.

Fontaine, K. (2000). Healing practices: Alternative therapies for nursing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Groft, G.N., & Kolischuck, R.G. (2005). Nursing students learn about complementary and alternative health care practices. Complementary and Alternative Health Practice Review, 10, 133-146.

Helms, J.E. (2006). Complementary and alternative therapies: a new frontier for nursing. education? Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 45(3), 117-123.

Lai, H., & Hsieh, M. (2003). Alternative nursing interventions for facilitating holistic nursing based on eastern philosophy. Tzu Chi Nursing, 2(1), 13-19.

Leonie, L.M. (2005). Is massage only a feel good therapy? ACCNS Journal for Community Nurses, 10 3), 23-24.

Pelletier, K. (2000). The best alternative medicine: What works? What does not? New York: Simon & Shuster.

Synder, M., & Lindquist, R. (2001). Issues in Complementary Therapies: How We Got To Where We Are. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 6(2), 1-13

Tracy et al, (2005). Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies: A National Survey Critical Care Nurses. American Journal of Critical Care, 14, 404-415.

Yung, P., French, P., & Leung, B. (2001). Relaxation training as complementary therapy for mild hypertension control and the implications of evidence-based medicine. Complementary Therapies in Nursing & Midwifery, 7, 59-65.

Page last updated: December 19, 2011

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