UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Wageman, Kate
Dept./Program:
Nursing
Year:
2014
Degree:
M.S.
Abstract:
Herbal therapies are used by approximately 18% of adults in the US, and its industry has been steadily growing over the past few decades. Patients often self-prescribe herbal therapies, and even when they discuss herbal therapy use with their health care provider there is often the issue of knowledge deficit and inadequate training on the part of the provider. Training for nurse practitioners in herbal therapies is limited and not standardized, despite the prevalence of herbal therapy use and its potential for adverse effects or drug interactions. Nurse practitioners, compared to physicians, have been found to be more open minded to the use and study of herbal therapies. However, current reseach on nurse practitioners knowledge of herbal therapies is lacking.
This study aims to discover the current lived experience of some nurse practitioner's involvement with herbal therapy in their practice. A total of seven participants were recruited to participate in an interview through a recruitment letter disseminated to a statewide Nurse Practitioner's Association through purposive and snowball sampling. Descriptive phenomenology and Colaizzi's method for data analysis was used for this study.
The nurse practitioners were found to have had varied experiences with herbal medicine, and saw them as both potentially useful and potentially dangerous. Five themes emerged from the interviews that provide insight in to NP practice and herbal medicine: NP voices; Challenges; The State of Things; The Patient Side; and Other Providers.
The findings of this study illuminate the phenomena of herbal medicine as part of the NPs practice. The participants indicated a need for increased herbal medicine education in nursing curricula, improved discussions with patients regarding their herbal medicine use, and increased regulation and research of herbal products. Areas for future research include barriers to curriculum change in nursing programs, patient's beliefs around herbal medicine, and further pharmacologic study of herbs.
This study aims to discover the current lived experience of some nurse practitioner's involvement with herbal therapy in their practice. A total of seven participants were recruited to participate in an interview through a recruitment letter disseminated to a statewide Nurse Practitioner's Association through purposive and snowball sampling. Descriptive phenomenology and Colaizzi's method for data analysis was used for this study.
The nurse practitioners were found to have had varied experiences with herbal medicine, and saw them as both potentially useful and potentially dangerous. Five themes emerged from the interviews that provide insight in to NP practice and herbal medicine: NP voices; Challenges; The State of Things; The Patient Side; and Other Providers.
The findings of this study illuminate the phenomena of herbal medicine as part of the NPs practice. The participants indicated a need for increased herbal medicine education in nursing curricula, improved discussions with patients regarding their herbal medicine use, and increased regulation and research of herbal products. Areas for future research include barriers to curriculum change in nursing programs, patient's beliefs around herbal medicine, and further pharmacologic study of herbs.