Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature

Complementary therapies (CTs) are nonconventional supportive therapies, which are used by the patients with cancer. The use of CTs has been known to alleviate symptoms as a result of chemotherapy and to improve quality of life. However, if CTs are inappropriately used, there may be adverse reactions...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Juliana Christina, Wendy Abigail, Lesley A Cuthbertson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016-01-01
Series:Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.apjon.org/article.asp?issn=2347-5625;year=2016;volume=3;issue=3;spage=241;epage=251;aulast=Christina
_version_ 1827836475585069056
author Juliana Christina
Wendy Abigail
Lesley A Cuthbertson
author_facet Juliana Christina
Wendy Abigail
Lesley A Cuthbertson
author_sort Juliana Christina
collection DOAJ
description Complementary therapies (CTs) are nonconventional supportive therapies, which are used by the patients with cancer. The use of CTs has been known to alleviate symptoms as a result of chemotherapy and to improve quality of life. However, if CTs are inappropriately used, there may be adverse reactions or no effect resulting in poor support of the cancer treatment. Nurses play an important role in supporting patients with cancer who often seek information regarding CTs. Within their scope of practice, it is expected that nurses have sufficient knowledge about the safety and effective use of CTs, and positive attitudes toward supporting patients who wish to use CTs. This review aims to examine existing literature regarding nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward CTs for patients with cancer. English language articles obtained from recognized nursing and midwifery databases such as CINAHL, Google Scholar, Medline, ProQuest Central, and Scopus for the period between 2002 and 2015 were searched. A total of 96 articles were retrieved using the search terms with only 13 eligible articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Three major themes were identified by the thematic analysis of reviewed studies: nurses' knowledge about CTs, nurses' attitudes toward CTs, and sources information about CTs. The majority of studies investigating nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward the use of CTs for oncology was conducted in developed countries. Overall, it was identified that nurses need to improve their knowledge and skills about CTs so that they were more confident to assist patients in integrating conventional treatment and CTs for cancer management.
first_indexed 2024-03-12T06:27:14Z
format Article
id doaj.art-aaeff452fd52444380565cd40d88d057
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2347-5625
2349-6673
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-12T06:27:14Z
publishDate 2016-01-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing
spelling doaj.art-aaeff452fd52444380565cd40d88d0572023-09-03T01:49:41ZengElsevierAsia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing2347-56252349-66732016-01-013324125110.4103/2347-5625.189816Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literatureJuliana ChristinaWendy AbigailLesley A CuthbertsonComplementary therapies (CTs) are nonconventional supportive therapies, which are used by the patients with cancer. The use of CTs has been known to alleviate symptoms as a result of chemotherapy and to improve quality of life. However, if CTs are inappropriately used, there may be adverse reactions or no effect resulting in poor support of the cancer treatment. Nurses play an important role in supporting patients with cancer who often seek information regarding CTs. Within their scope of practice, it is expected that nurses have sufficient knowledge about the safety and effective use of CTs, and positive attitudes toward supporting patients who wish to use CTs. This review aims to examine existing literature regarding nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward CTs for patients with cancer. English language articles obtained from recognized nursing and midwifery databases such as CINAHL, Google Scholar, Medline, ProQuest Central, and Scopus for the period between 2002 and 2015 were searched. A total of 96 articles were retrieved using the search terms with only 13 eligible articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Three major themes were identified by the thematic analysis of reviewed studies: nurses' knowledge about CTs, nurses' attitudes toward CTs, and sources information about CTs. The majority of studies investigating nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward the use of CTs for oncology was conducted in developed countries. Overall, it was identified that nurses need to improve their knowledge and skills about CTs so that they were more confident to assist patients in integrating conventional treatment and CTs for cancer management.http://www.apjon.org/article.asp?issn=2347-5625;year=2016;volume=3;issue=3;spage=241;epage=251;aulast=ChristinaAttitudes' cancer carecomplementary therapiesknowledgenursesnursing
spellingShingle Juliana Christina
Wendy Abigail
Lesley A Cuthbertson
Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature
Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing
Attitudes' cancer care
complementary therapies
knowledge
nurses
nursing
title Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature
title_full Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature
title_fullStr Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature
title_full_unstemmed Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature
title_short Nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer: A review of the literature
title_sort nurses knowledge and attitudes toward complementary therapies for cancer a review of the literature
topic Attitudes' cancer care
complementary therapies
knowledge
nurses
nursing
url http://www.apjon.org/article.asp?issn=2347-5625;year=2016;volume=3;issue=3;spage=241;epage=251;aulast=Christina
work_keys_str_mv AT julianachristina nursesknowledgeandattitudestowardcomplementarytherapiesforcancerareviewoftheliterature
AT wendyabigail nursesknowledgeandattitudestowardcomplementarytherapiesforcancerareviewoftheliterature
AT lesleyacuthbertson nursesknowledgeandattitudestowardcomplementarytherapiesforcancerareviewoftheliterature