Regional Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies by Critical Care Nurses

The use of complementary and alternative therapies has become increasingly common in the United States.^1,2 According to a 7-year study,¹ more than 40% of American adults use 1 or more such therapies. Complementary and alternative medicine is generally considered to be “a group of diverse medical health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.”³ The term “complementary” typically refers to those therapies used in conjunction with traditional therapies; the term “alternative” is commonly viewed as those therapies used instead of traditional ones.⁴ As used in this article, “complementary and alternative therapies” refers to a broad array of nontraditional therapies. We use this term rather than the term “complementary and alternative medicine” to avoid association of the therapies solely with medicine, because these nontraditional therapies and healing practices have been practiced by nurses and by members of...