Is it safe for chronic patients to use complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in hospitals?: Korean Nurses` experience, perceptions and attitudes

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess attitudes towards CAMs among nurses working on wards in four university hospitals and how nurses` respond to patients with chronic diseases who use CAMs, and to identify factors which contribute to these different responses. This study was designed to answer several questions:1) What is the perception and attitudes of nurses working on wards towards CAMs?; 2) What are the experience of the nurses with CAMs?; 3) What are the attitude of the nurses toward chronic patients using CAMs in hospital settings?; 4) Are demographic factors associated with knowledge and attitudes towards CAM among the nurses?; 5) What are the other factors associated with variation of the attitude of the nurses toward chronic patients using CAMs?; 6) Is there a relationship between variables related to perception and experiences with the CAMs?

Methods: The data were collected with a questionnaire specifically developed for this study from May 10, 2006 to June 10, 2006. A survey was conducted to assess the experience with and perception and attitude toward CAM nurses working on wards in four university hospitals located in Seoul and Guri city. A total of 230 nurses completed a questionnaire (92% response rate) designed to assess their experience with and perception and attitude to chronic patients using CAMs in hospital settings. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) 12.0 program to determine the level of perception, attitude and experiences and to analyse the relations between the variables related to the perceptions and experiences in CAMs.

Results: Only 33% of the nurses did regard CAMs as a safe and efficient method in the treatment of chronic diseases. On the contrary, many nurses believed that combine CAMs with conventional therapy may give benefits to chronic patients. However, the nurses considered it important that patients with chronic diseases have the opportunity to talk about their use of CAMs both with nurses and physicians. An interesting question that deserves further attention is whether this attitude is reflected in nursing Nurses had higher levels of education, age, length of working years which was also associated with more positive attitudes to and knowledge levels of CAM. The core category which emerged from this study was `nurses` responses towards patients who use CAMs`. Nurses respond in a variety of ways to patients with chronic diseases who use CAMs. They include: open, skeptical and ambivalent responses.

Conclusions: As the results of this study showed, nurses` attitudes and perception toward CAMs were negative. A range of factors which influence the way nurses respond were also identified. These include the ambiguous definitions of CAM, nurses` experience with CAMs, and evidence of the therapy`s effectiveness. Several implications for nursing education and practice were identified from these findings