Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) (Nursing)

00:01 Hi, guys, welcome to complementary alternative medicines, otherwise known as CAM for short.

00:07 So this is an increasingly popular topic nowadays.

00:11 As you can imagine, when you're ill and you go to the doctor, you typically get different treatments or medications.

00:18 A lot of the times we have really unwanted side effects from those.

00:22 So that's not fun.

00:23 So other alternatives that we're going to look at is CAM therapy.

00:28 Now, before we dive in CAM therapy, let's take a minute and talk about the difference between that and Western or traditional medicine.

00:37 We call that allopathic medicine.

00:39 So, again, otherwise known as either traditional medicine or Western medicine.

00:44 So this is the stuff you're going to see, like let's say you go to the doctor because you're sick, they may give you an antibiotic, for example.

00:52 That's a great example of Western medicine.

00:55 Now, this is typically good at treating the physical illness, but really emotionally doesn't make us feel better it doesn't help our spiritual needs or look at the holistic person.

01:05 So that's the difference when CAM therapy comes in.

01:08 This is the type of health practices that we use that's not used in Western medicine.

01:15 Now, this is much better at looking at the holistic person, meaning those emotional, spiritual and even mental needs, for example.

01:23 Now, many patients, remember, turned to complementary alternative medicine.

01:28 And one thing to note, as a nurse, you're going to see your patients maybe bring these type of therapies in your facility.

01:35 So please be diligent.

01:37 Have a great conversation with your patient and make sure you consider your patient's choices and options.

01:44 So let's take a look at different categories of CAM therapy.

01:48 A really increasingly popular one is biologically-based therapies.

01:53 This is going to look like the use of herbal products, for example, minerals, different types of dietary supplements.

02:00 A great example of this is maybe your patient has removed gluten from their diet or maybe they're using a full plant-based diet, for example, for their health and wellness.

02:10 Another really unique type of CAM therapy is what we call energy therapy.

02:15 They're going to manipulate energy fields using light, sound, magnets and even personal touch.

02:22 And don't forget the use of manipulation.

02:25 This can be really helpful for our patients.

02:28 This is going to look like chiropractic or massage therapy, for example.

02:31 I don't know about you, but a good massage definitely helps to work out all those kinks and those knots in your back and reduce stress.

02:40 And don't forget about moving the body.

02:42 Yoga's a great example here because yoga is all over the place.

02:46 It's really accessible.

02:48 It also focuses on the holistic feeling of the person.

02:52 Some patients choose to adopt whole medical systems.

02:56 What this is going to look like is maybe traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathic medicine and acupuncture.

03:02 The whole focus here is to get away from traditional medicine and go a holistic or CAM route.

03:10 Now, let's talk about just some easy nurse accessible therapies that you could use either for even yourself or your patients.

03:17 So one of these is relaxation therapy.

03:19 So this is easy to do in a patient's room.

03:22 We can dim the lights, have the patients relax, try to remove any sort of excess stimuli that the patient may have in their room to help them decompress.

03:32 Next, meditation and breathing.

03:35 So here's something that we totally underestimate as nurses, as just having the patient deep breathe and exhale.

03:43 Take an inhale and deep breath.

03:45 A lot of times with my nursing students, I will suggest this before a big test.

03:50 And lastly, a really neat type of therapy is called imagery, guys.

03:55 Here's a great example of how this can be used in medicine.

03:59 There's something called mirror box therapy.

04:01 Have you ever heard of it? Well, they actually use this for patients with phantom limb pain.

04:07 What I mean by this is some diabetics, due to other complications, they have to have an amputation of their leg.

04:14 As you can imagine, there's a lot of pain associated with that.

04:17 So what they can do is put a mirror where that amputated leg is.

04:22 It tricks the patient's mind to think that that amputated leg is still there.

04:27 It actually reduces pain for patients, guys.

04:29 And this is completely noninvasive.

04:33 Now, let's take a look at some holistic care pieces that we can implement as interventions with our patients.

04:39 So don't forget about that relaxation therapy guys, and also music therapy.

04:45 I don't know about you, but sometimes just different types of music definitely helps to relax and soothe the patient.

04:51 And we can use this easily with our patients in any type of setting.

04:55 There's that therapeutic touch, guys, and guided imagery as well.

04:59 And don't forget about the acupuncture.

05:02 Now, we talked about this a little bit before, but we talked about ayurveda and this is those alternative medicines, such as those minerals, herbs or special oils, for example.