Summit on Complementary and Alternative Therapies.
In May 2002, a group of approximately 28 national nursing leaders met in St. Paul, Minnesota to discuss the role of nursing in integrated health care. The impetus for the gathering was a growing concern regarding the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or integrated health care (IHC) movement overall and the role of nursing within this movement. Issues that drew the two dozen nurse leaders to the Summit included:
- the noted absence of nursing leadership within many organizational initiatives
- the lack of awareness that much of what is being called CAM or IHC has been within the domain of nursing for centuries
- the underemphasis within the movement on caring and healing and the overemphasis on particular CAM modalities
- inadequate focus on CAM and IHC within undergraduate and graduate nursing programs
- the relative under-representation of nurses successfully attaining NIH funding
- reimbursement issues related to nurses who offer CAM or IHC services
- inconsistency in credentialing
- significant differences in how state boards of nursing are addressing the inclusion of CAM or IHC within nurse practice acts
- the lack of awareness among philanthropists of the need to support nursing-based integrative initiatives
The nurse leaders included clinicians, researchers, administrators, educators, consultants and students. Four small issue-oriented working groups were convened several months in advance of the Summit to develop position papers that could be shared. During the Summit, the World Café process was used to establish common ground and a set of core recommendations.
Four themes permeated the conversations and shaped the strategies and recommendations that emerged:
- There is significant discomfort around language issues and the meaning that words convey. While there was recognition that the term "complementary and alternative medicine" and "integrative medicine" are growing in both usage and acceptance, there was concern that the use of the word "medicine" within this context reinforces the focus on the discipline of medicine rather than the field of healing. It connotes exclusivity rather than inclusivity.
- From an historical perspective, nursing has had as its core a focus on caring, healing and holism. This philosophy was reflected in Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing in the late 19th century and continues to be reflected in contemporary nursing theories. The American Holistic Nurses Association's mission is to unite nurses in healing.
- Significant concern was voiced that the current emphasis is mistakenly more on tools and therapies than on relationships and healing. We risk losing what is of greatest value if we allow the field of healing to be reduced to "complementary and alternative modalities."
- Last, but perhaps of most significance, there was strong belief that a re-focusing on integrative health and healing, and all that that brings, offers an unparalleled opportunity to revitalize both the care of patients and the profession of nursing.
Mary Jo Kreitzer, Director of the Center for Spirituality and Healing, and Joanne Disch have written a report for publication. An additional manuscript related to the impact of this summit on critical care nursing has been published. Contact Mary Jo Kreitzer (kreit003@umn.edu)
with questions.
