Nurses who believe in herbal nonsense, alternative medicine, anti vaccine etc

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This is one of the few things that kind of upsets and bothers me so much in the nursing world (well healthcare in general, but since im in nursing it bothers me when i see it with nurses more)

But so frequently there are so many people who recommend this alternative nonense, to seeking real medical attention, and it really just worries me.

Theres the obvious danger of interactions with real medication, but then it also promotes people to either avoid actually treating their problem. Or it takes money away from going to real healthcare, and instead ends up in the pockets of these charlatans.

In nursing school I saw it so incredibly frequently, and even in the hospital I see it somewhat often. Nurses who tell patients that eating grains causes their diabetes, or ranting about GMOs and this crap. Other nurses who are stubborn/ignorant enough to avoid getting vaccinated (flu shots!) for reasons other than legitimate medical reasons (id never expect someone with a history or guillain barre or allergies to force a shot on themselves)

If medical professionals want to do all this nonsense in their personal lives, thats their right. Its just when they bring it into the workplace and involve patients in it that it really worries me.

When its relatively harmless it doesn't bother me (ie some of the out there ideas that people may have for patients to improve their pain without drugs) fine. But when it just spreads ignorance and confuses the patient, its terrible.

Im all over the place here, but just a rant

Me thinks you knew your inflammatory heading to your post would summon many responses since most RNs believe and endorse or are generally OK with alternative medicine. I think you are possibly angry, sad or in need or a friend.

We all do...

Peace

Depends on your definition of alternative medicine.

If youre talking about relaxation, massage, imagery, distraction etc in that line of thinking yes I do think most RNs endorse alternative medicine.

If were talking about Reiki, shamanistic rain dance, sacrificing a baby lamb to cure CHF . Then I do not believe that most nurses believe or endorse alternative medicine.

Theyd be better off believing in Santa

I think the problem that people have is staying open minded. Usually when a person "attacks" our personally held beliefs and tells us our beliefs are wrong we get naturally defensive. Especially if this belief is something you have dedicated hours of time into.

One of my favorite quotes by Steven Novella a famous skeptic and Neurologist is that if alternative medicine worked it wouldn't be called "alternative" it would be called "medicine".

I use to believe in a lot of CAM, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Acupuncture etc. until I started to realize that most scientists view it as "junk science" or pseudo science. I asked well why is that? It is due to the lack of empirical peer reviewed studies that these treatments work. Most of these treatments show nothing more than a placebo effect. Double blind studies of Acupuncture have shown that patients who were only tapped with tooth picks versus acupuncture needles reported the same effects. Also, they discovered that it didn't even matter where you put the tooth pick/needles the results were the same.

Studies on prayer have not shown anything other than a placebo effect.

Personal accounts of being "healed" are what keeps these claims alive. A persons personal belief that something works is not evidence that it does work. Often these people will never be open to the possibility that it was a placebo effect.

Also a cool discussion on The Psychology of Pseudoscience in Medicine

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I do not think it's all "nonsense" but to recommend alternative therapies is akin to practicing a form of medicine without a license, which I never do. It's a good idea to be educated about alternative/complementary medications and treatments, however, so you are prepared to take care of all your patients.

Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.

Where's that old popcorn eating icon? It may interest the OP to know that researchers at big institutions like UCLA and Duke are publishing research on alternative modalities like yoga, meditation and other bodywork, as well as other holistic medicine.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Where's that old popcorn eating icon? It may interest the OP to know that researchers at big institutions like UCLA and Duke are publishing research on alternative modalities like yoga, meditation and other bodywork, as well as other holistic medicine.

I don't know id it is there but here is the smilie link.....https://allnurses.com/misc.php?do=getsmilies

Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Doctors do prescribe fish oil , flax seed oil, niasan for cholesterol. That is herbal. OBs suggest DHA for fetal brain health. That is herbal. OBs and oncologists suggest massage and such for pain relief. Holistic health is part of medicine

Actually, none of those are herbal except flax seed.

ETA: I see I already responded to this 10 months ago! One of the reasons I hate zombie threads.

Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

I'm curious what OP might think of traditional Chinese medicine. Cupping, acupuncture, herbs, etc.

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