Studies indicate that the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies is prevalent among the American public. However, most conventional health care providers have limited knowledge concerning the biological bases indications, and safety of CAM therapies. Additionally, they lack the preparation to collaborate with CAM practitioners to provide integrated health care. Because nurses have traditionally utilized a holistic approach to patient care, and increasingly serve as primary care providers for diverse patient populations, we propose to develop and implement a CAM educational program for nurses. We are in a strong position to support the development of the proposed program because a) our institution is supportive of incorporating CAM into its educational research and clinical missions, and provides patient-centered care to diverse, multiethnic populations with various orientation to health and illness, and b) the College of Nursing is firmly committed to this educational endeavor, and ha a cadre of faculty who have begun to develop research programs in CAM and have provided CAM content in a number of elective courses. Using a two-pronged approach, we will (a) integrate CAM content into our undergraduate and graduate nursing curricula, and (b) develop a continuing education program for nursing faculty and practicing nurses. We plan to use both didactic and web-based approaches to deliver a comprehensive educational program that encompasses the biological, social, and cultural aspects of CAM use. Additionally, we plan to assist faculty at other institutions to integrate CAM content into their curricula. The Stufflebeam Model, currently used by the College of Nursing for program evaluation, will be adapted to evaluate the integrated nursing curricula. Continuing education Instruments will be developed or modified to evaluate continuing education activities. Formative and summative data will be collected and analyzed and used to make program revisions throughout the project period. We anticipate that the proposed program, within a short period of time, will significantly enhance the collaborative interactions between nurses and CAM practitioners through education our faculty and nursing program graduates about CAM practices and providing continuing education opportunities to nursing faculty and practicing nurses nationwide. Given that there are approximately 24,000 nurse educators and 2,000,000 nurses employed nationwide, the need for CAM education programs is enormous. Providing nurses with CAM knowledge and skills to collaborate with CAM practitioners will offer patients a more holistic approach to care. The proposed program is anticipated to be at the forefront of a movement in nursing to incorporate CAM information into education, practice, and research activities.
| Swanson, Barbara; Zeller, Janice M; Keithley, Joyce K et al. (2012) Case-based online modules to teach graduate-level nursing students about complementary and alternative medical therapies. J Prof Nurs 28:125-9 |
