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Introducing complementary/alternative strategies in a baccalaureate curriculum.

Responding to dramatic and rapid changes taking place in the health care delivery system, many clients choose to incorporate less hectic, more comfort-focused healing strategies into their regimes. Therefore, nurses are challenged to integrate the highly sophisticated and technological interventions characteristic of traditional Western medicine with complementary methods of healing. Nurses must also be prepared to communicate intelligently with clients who employ alternative methods of treatment when confronting illness. Connecting the philosophical, theological, and cultural underpinnings of healing methods with the client's choice strengthens the nurse's ability to partner with the client. Indeed, in describing the 21st century nurse, Vernice Ferguson cautions that total reliance on the Western worldview of health care practices, dominated by aggressive treatment and the wide use of technology, is not adequate as we respond to a rapidly changing and culturally diverse society (1). To meet the challenge put forth by Ferguson, nursing specialty courses often address practice issues related to complementary and alternative medicine. However, by this approach, the intrinsic tenets of these alternative therapies may be ignored. The "what it is," rather than the "why" of these interventions, is usually the focus. Complementary or Alternative? The baccalaureate nursing course described in this article provides the opportunity to examine methods of health and healing indigenous to various cultures beyond the scope of traditional Western medical practice. The course, entitled "An Exploration of Alternative/Complementary Strategies for Health and Healing," offers a global perspective and affirms the coexistence of traditional and nontraditional methods of health and healing. Although the terms complementary and alternative medicine are often used synonymously, they have different connotations. Alternative implies the use of treatments in place of Western medicine; complementary interventions are used in addition to, and to balance the limitations of conventional medical approaches (2). These interventions are used by individuals for prevention as well as treatment of disease (3,4). Since this course examines the conceptual foundations of practices convergent and divergent to Western medicine, both terms -- complementary and alternative -- are used. The healing strategies discussed in the course are based on a connection between the body and mind (2). The concept of interconnectedness of body and mind is congruent with the discipline of nursing. As described by the American Holistic Nurses' Association, nursing practice focuses on the bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions of the person. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and the individual is an integrated whole (5). Although this holistic philosophy permeates the conceptual frameworks of nursing programs across the United States and beyond, nursing education has given little attention to patient choices of treatment that fall outside conventional Western medical practices. The Western medical approach, using a strict, rational methodology, often discourages the use of nontraditional modes of treatment. Organizationally, both undergraduate and graduate students enroll in the class, which is taught as a three-credit course. The course is offered once weekly to accommodate students' schedules. All majors at the university with junior status or above are eligible to enroll. Thus, the enrollment creates an interdisciplinary environment, drawing students majoring in social work, theology, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines, as well as nursing. The objectives of the course provide the framework for the content and reflect an examination of approaches to healing from an integrated, humanistic perspective. The objectives are to: 1. Explore the philosophical, theological, and cultural foundations of a broad range of complementary/alternative healing strategies. …