AWARENESS OF MATERNITY AND GYNECOLOGICAL NURSES TOWARDS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES

Background: Nurses interest and participation in Complementary and Alternative Therapies (CATs) are increasing. Therefore, it is important for maternity nurses to be knowledgeable of the multiple CATs available and the use of these therapies by women. It is also important for nurses to keep abreast of current researches being done in this area to provide accurate information, not only to the client, but also to other health care professionals. Aim: to assess awareness of maternity and gynecologic nurses towards complementary and alternative therapies.Subject and methods: A descriptive design was utilized in this study. The Sample was including 90 nurses were participated in the current study.   It was carried out at obstetric and gynecologic departments / outpatient clinics of  Mansoura university hospital, and Maternal and Child Health Centers for Hai Awal and Hai Thani.  Interviewed questionnaire sheet was developed by the researcher for collection of data. Results: of this study revealed that the majority of nurses utilized types of CATs personally.  Most of them used herbal therapy, honey and bee products, spiritual healing and massage despite their insufficient knowledge about them.Conclusion: It was concluded from current study that the majority of nurses (87.8%) had unsatisfactory knowledge about complementary/ alternative therapies and utilized some types of CATs e.g. herbal therapy without recognizing its correct benefit.  Moreover, (67.8%) of nurses had positive attitude towards the use of CATs. It was recommended that academic preparation of maternity nurses should be regularly updated through incorporation of CATs within their curricula.