Re: Disturbed Energy Field? Yes or No?
Having it listed as a NANDA diagnosis doesn't require anyone to use it. It just gives options to those who do practice energy medicine as part of their holistic nursing practice.
I'm actually a bit conflicted about this issue. In some ways, trying to merge holistic therapies into conventional treatment actually lessens both of them. For instance, in Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine, one doesn't treat disease, one improves the underlying consitutional imbalance that allows the disease to manifest in a given individual. That is really hard to test. Most of the studies have been on taking one drug, one herb, etc...and test it individually. If you did the same form of research on farming, it would show that farming has no scientific basis.
First, one would study clearing land and no food would grow so therefor clearing land is not a scientifically proven method of growing food
Then, one would study fertilizing and get only weeds so it's not effective
Then, one would study planting seeds (but not clearing the land or fertilizing)
etc...
So, holistic therapies are put into a conventional medicine context where the 5000 year (Ayurvedic) to 3000 year (Chinese Medicine) constiutional medicine basis is lost and then research is done on them.
My own experience with energy medicine has been extremely positive. I'm not sure how to best do research on it. I do believe that quantum physics gives some theoretical underpinning for it. We haven't had much success studying other aspects of quantum physics yet. I'm an open minded sceptic. Until it's proven to me, I don't necessarily give it much credence. Energy based medicines have been proven to me through experience with animals and people. I know that's anecdotal but MOST medicine has come from we tried it without any real evidence, it worked, we studied it to prove that it works. I'm in the minority in that I believe that evidence based medicine rarely is. It's a religion/belief system as much as any other. So much research is horribly biased and the conclusions often don't truly match the research. I put as much trust in the validity of my own clinical experience and choose to believe the patients who tell me these therapies work for them. Is it placebo effect? Why would I care? (I don't believe it is because it works well on many animals but...) If the treatment is absolutely safe and the patient perceives benefit (and uses fewer meds and therefor health care dollars) then I'm for it.
http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=507
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