Nurses Know! - Complimentary and Alternative Treatments

By: Rosalind Anderson RN
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is the use of practices and products that are not considered part of conventional medicine in the United States. Biological therapies include herbs, vitamins, foods including dietary supplements and other natural substances (Pepa). With the increase of infomercials which boasts the benefits of these products, use of alternative medicine is on the rise.

This is especially important when assessing the medication history of elder patients. Although many herbal supplements are safe when used as recommended, the concern is that many elder patients may not tell their nurse, practitioners or physicians they are taking these medications (Pepa). Often times the reason for this is that elders feel that the supplements are not medications because they are “natural”. However the astute nurse should realize that these “all natural” supplements may have deleterious effects when combined with prescribed medications and address natural supplements or home remedies in the medication history assessment of their patient. Common prescription drugs taken by elders such as blood thinners, blood pressure medication, cyclosporins, digoxin, hypoglycemic agents, and antidepressants should not be taken with herbal supplements (Pepa).

The increased use of CAM by the elderly mandates that nurses maintain thorough communication and be knowledgeable about these supplements in order to provide proper care for the patient.


Reference:
Pepa, C. (2006). Alternative health modalities. In Mauk, K. (Eds.), Gerontological nursing: Competencies for care (pp 683-700). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.