Therapeutic Oils in hospital

[Maeve1982]

I have heard about oils being used in a hospital setting, but that's just it. Hearing bits and pieces only. I know for me personally, essential oils (I use Doterra), have helped me tremendously and I'm just wondering if anyone has used, for example, lavender for calmness and relaxation or any other oils to help patients in any way.

Any responses will be helpful. Thanks!

xoxo

[idialyze, BSN, RN]

Interesting about the peppermint oil and urination, I've never heard that. Not much call for that in my Dialysis Unit!

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

This past summer, a friend from church invited me to an oil party her sister was hosting. I don't remember the company but it was one of those MLMs. Anyway, she was handing out sample-size vials and these little tri-fold cards w/ an A-to-Z list of conditions allegedly treated w/ essential oils. It was scary. I kid you not, HIV and TB were on that list. (I wonder if they've updated it to include ebola??)

They have.

The FDA cracks down on Ebola quacks, and Mike Adams loses it – Respectful Insolence

[firstinfamily, RN]

Klone: In LTC, we had to have orders for everything, even over the counter type medications, all skin treatments, lotions etc. So, even though this occurred in the hospital if it is a medication brought in from the outside there really should be an order for it!!! What if the pt had an allergic reaction to it??

[ziggysgal,RN]

No asthma here but I have a sensitivity to strong fragrances. This 'trend' has hit my small town hospital in the past few months and it bothers me that so far no one seems to mind.

We are discouraged from wearing scented lotion or perfumes, but it's apparently ok for people to walk around in a cloud of oil fumes. Not all of them are complimentary either. One day a coworker snuck up on me and ambushed me with 'stress relief' oil on my wrist. I spent the day nauseated and suffering a migraine. No matter how many times I washed with soap and water and smeared alcohol sanitizer, the smell stayed with me all day. I was thoroughly annoyed but kept my complaints to myself.

Luckily this did not repeat once I claimed an allergy (easy way out) but I still had to deal with the smell all around me on multiple coworkers up until I switched departments. Fortunately my primary team now is one other person who doesn't use the stuff.

It's offensive. If I were a patient , I would complain because of the effects it has on me. I'm surprised that there's not more rules about the individual use of it in the healthcare setting.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Not a good idea for a lot of reasons. If patients do their own, not much we can do, but we should not sponsor such practices.

[BD-RN, BSN, RN]

My hospital has an Urban Zen program we and the physicians will order for our patients. Many large hospitals work collaboratively with "alternative medicine" specialists for symptom management. They reside in the PT department, and do everything from guided meditation, massage, Reiki therapy, and essential oils. They help with nausea, constipation, relaxation, etc.

Our patients really enjoy it and we often encourage it for them. I had one patient who brought his own essential oils, and I popped the top on them and threw gauze in. His room a)no longer smelled of vomit and b) he felt better, whether it just lifted his spirits to know we supported him or his nausea was actually better, it worked.

As long as my patients aren't ingesting anything that could interact with any medications I'm administrating I'm all for it. A dab of oil on someone's forehead isn't going to hurt.

PS an order for a hot pack? That's ridiculous. It's not a medication. That's well within your scope of practice.

[SmilingBluEyes]

No, it is NOT in our scope of practice. Where I work if I put essential oils on patients without a doctor's ok/order, I would be out of a job.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

When I worked in LTC we needed orders for everything, literally.

[brownbook]

We have Quease Ease packets in our PACU, I'm not impressed with it or the results.

If aroma therapy is used for something relatively minor. The patient has seen a medical doctor to find out why they are nauseated or getting headaches or insomnia. Then I won't roll my eyes too much. If the mind believes it I believe it can convince the body that it is helping.

[TheSpectator]

I work in LDRP and this is becoming hugely popular with people seeking a natural birth right now. Our hospital does not offer this but allows pts to bring their own oils/diffusers. I love natural birth but almost every time essential oils have been used they have been used excessively, to the point we can smell it all down the hall and any nurses with sensitivities are affected!

I am not sensitive to these types of things...but I just plain don't like the smell of most of them. I'm thinking we needs some boundaries so patient's that were NOT wanting to use these alternative treatments don't have the strong smells floating into their rooms and the hallways. Hospital rooms are not the size of houses...one or two drops is probably enough!

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

When I took childbirth classes, the crunchy instructor passed around a sample of birthing balm, a blend of essential oils that smelled like my cat.