Is there a place for complementary therapies in the accident and emergency department?

This paper addresses the potential for complementary therapies in the Accident and Emergency (A & E) department. It is suggested that whilst there are a number of therapies which may be efficacious in emergency settings, nurses need to consider the broader implications of their use in the A & E department. The organisational context of the A & E department and the nature of such acute work means that complementary therapies will probably be used as therapeutic techniques rather than discrete therapeutic entities. It is suggested that this approach is not dissimilar to the use of complementary therapies in other nursing specialities. The use of complementary therapies as techniques enhancing therapeutic care may, in the short term, be beneficial, however nurses need to reflect and reappraise what it is they are actually doing and the extent to which they can reconcile two apparently opposite paradigms of health care. The use of complementary therapy techniques have considerable potential in the care of clients attending A & E departments and examples of therapies and conditions for which it could be used are given.