HEMŞİRELİK ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN TAMAMLAYICI VE ALTERNATİF TIP YÖNTEMLERİNE İLİŞKİN TUTUMLARI: KESİTSEL ÇALIŞMA

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to determine nursing students’ attitudes towards complementary and alternative treatment methods Material and methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in the health sciences faculty of a university between February-March 2018. The sample consisted of first and fourth year students of nursing (n:197). The “Descriptive Information Form” and ‘Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire’ were used to collect the data. Results: In data analysis, descriptive statistics, student's t test and chi-square test were used. The mean scores the first and fourth year nursing students obtained from the overall Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire were 32.69 ± 5.42 and 30.82 ± 5.84 respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the first and fourth year nursing students in terms of the mean scores they obtained from the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (p< 0.05). Conclusions: The results of the study demonstrated that the participating nursing students displayed positive attitudes towards the methods of complementary and alternative medicine at a moderate level. Their being knowledgeable about Complementary and Alternative Medicine methods is important. In order for nurses to be primarily responsible for patient care and to provide care holistically, their being knowledgeable about Complementary and Alternative Medicine methods, and informing their patients about the Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Therefore, we recommended that the undergraduate nursing curriculum should also include information about Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and students should be provided with educational opportunities about different methods.