Should nurses practise complementary therapies?

Abstract

This paper is based on the review of the literature that was undertaken as part of a Research Dissertation, submitted as part of an MSc in Nursing at Coventry University. The subsequent study was a comparison of Nurse and Non-nurse Aromatherapists, exploring their beliefs about the therapy and their reasons for practice. The author questions whether nurses should practise complementary therapies and if so why? If the nursing curriculum is to be developed to incorporate complementary therapies then we must be able to justify their inclusion in terms of patient outcomes, rather than in terms of meeting the needs of the nurse. The paper raises many questions, not all of which can be answered at this stage, but which can be considered and reflected on in depth.