Reference no: EM133909658

Question

Define complementary and alternative medicine. Choose one example of complementary and alternative medicine. Describe the nurse practitioner's role in utilizing your chosen complementary and alternative medicine. Support your answer with evidence-based research.

Complementary medicine are classified in different ways and when we talk about complimentary, it means " in addition to medicine". According to National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (2021), it includes a total well-being of the patient ranging from nutrition, psychological needs, the physical needs and others like yoga, tai chi dance and many more. The nutrition aspect is about eating healthy food like plant diet. Plant diet is better because it helps to consume less fat in the diet and improve total well-being of the body.

Psychological needs is basically controlling your mind through conscious attempt. To add, I use the psychological approach to control my mind. For example, if I see or have negative feeling, I make attempt to tell my mind to think positive and re-program my thinking. There are lots of people that are not able to re-program their mind or thinking and this may lead them to do something that is not pleasant.

The complementary medicine I would like to utilize is the nutrition aspect of complementary medicine. This will be done through education my patient about healthy life style and choosing right. Avoiding any food that high in fat and cholesterol. Drinking more water instead of pop and consuming less sugar. There are lots of natural and organic based plant diet that are available in the grocery section of the store. As a nurse practitioner, I will assess financial aspect and determine of the patient is able to afford the natural plant diet. If not, I would refer the patient to the community resources that offer free food especially organic foods. I have seen some farmers bring free food to some centers in the community for distribution. According to Hyunju et al, (2019), it was concluded their research study that diet that is high in plant food and lower in animal is associated with lowering the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (Hyunju et al., 2019). Plant-based diets, diets that emphasize higher intakes of plant foods and lower intakes of animal foods, are associated with a lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease mortality, and all-cause mortality in a general US adult population.

Alternative medicine is different in the sense that it uses alternative measure instead of standard medical treatment (NIH, 2021). Alternative medicine is used solely as a preventative measure instead of in combination with medicine. Patient's preference and cultural background also plays important role and must be respected. Nurse practitioner role is to promote health and educate the patient about their choices they make.