Evaluation of perception of nurses toward the reasons for using complementary therapies in clinical their practice

Background: The majority of nurses advocate integration of complementary therapies and conventional medicine, and some of them implement these methods in their clinical practice. There various reasons for application of complementary therapies by nurses, identification of which is of paramount importance. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of nurses toward the reasons for using complementary therapies in clinical nursing practice.

Methods: This study was a qualitative content analysis, conducted in Isfahan and Kashan, Iran, during June 2014-July 2015. Purposive sampling was performed and was continued until data saturation. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with fifteen experienced nurses. Data were collected and analyzed using content analysis method. Data analysis was carried out using MaxQDA software.

Results: Four major categories including “ethical perceptions and attitudes”, “obligating beliefs”, “attention to information from unofficial sources”, and “attention to information from official sources” were extracted with two main themes of “moral obligation of nurses” and “application of information sources by nurses”.

Conclusion: With regard to the reasons for application of complementary therapies in practice, performance of nurses could be demonstrated through assessing their moral obligation and application of obtained information from various sources, especially unofficial ones. Therefore, acknowledging these findings could help healthcare planners design guidelines and functional models to integrate complementary therapies and nursing practice.