Nursing as a context for alternative/complementary modalities

With increasing consumer and professional interest in alternative and complementary care, Registered Nurses (RNs) are incorporating alternative/complementary modalities into their practices. While these modalities give nurses additional tools to meet client needs, many of these modalities are taught and used by non-nursing professionals leading nurses to question if and under what circumstances these modalities are included in nursing s scope of practice. Exploration of the two major frameworks that define nursing and articulate nursing s worldview, Nursing Theory and Nursing s Taxonomies of Care, reveals that complementary/alternative modalities can easily be brought into a nursing context. Further, professional nursing thought can provide direction to the practice of complementary/alternative modalities by adding qualities of assessment, reflection, and holism to the performance of the techniques. Examples are provided for incorporating alternative/complementary practices into care that is clearly identified as professional nursing.