Nurses’ attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine in cancer care – a narrative review

Aims: This narrative review explored nurses’ attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in cancer care.
Design: The study design was a qualitative narrative review with meta-aggregation.
Data sources: Published studies were identified via searching the following databases: Medline, CINAHL, Pubmed and AMED.
Review methods: Four papers that met the inclusion criteria were appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program Tool. The qualitative data was extracted and meta-aggregated into three synthesised findings.
Results: Four papers were included exploring nurses’ attitudes towards CAM in cancer contexts in four different countries. From these papers, 20 findings were extracted and formed into eight categories. The categories were then aggregated into three synthesised findings: ‘1. There are divergent attitudes towards CAM and its integration into oncology services’, ‘2. CAM meets psychosocial needs of patients that are unmet by conventional medicine’ and ‘3. General understanding of CAM gained from anecdotal evidence with a view to learn more’.
Conclusion: Nurses’ attitudes were found to be primarily positive although some hesitations existed around the safety of CAM use and its integration into practice. Furthermore, CAM was identified as filling gaps in conventional medicine by meeting psychosocial needs of patients, and integration was seen as beneficial in providing holistic care.
Impact: This review highlighted the need for CAM teaching to be embedded into nursing training and for improved access to high quality sources of information about CAM. Additionally, further qualitative research is needed in this area.