The future of nursing
Homeopathic medicine pertains to the employment of dilute reagents that may encourage the body of a patient to resolve of its illness (Hankey, 2008). The employment of homeopathic procedures has lately increased around the world, as a complementary technique to the routine medical procedures. To date, there have been several attempts in investigating the effectiveness and safety of homeopathic medicine and a significant number of reports have been published for further dissemination to rest of the biomedical field. Since nurses are considered as the prime healthcare personnel who directly interact with patients, it is thus important that the principles and issues associated with homeopathic medicine be well understood by their professionals.
The principle behind homeopathic medicine is the capacity of the body to heal by its own natural course. The self-healing phenomenon is actually based on the combinatorial effect of the causative agent of the illness and the response of the patient’s body to the causative agent. However, it should be understood that each individual carries a unique combination of features that not a single medical procedure, homeopathic or not, is applicable to the rest of the society. Hence, there should be utmost caution in the practice of homeopathic medicine, especially when there is a need for more thorough research and clinical trials.
Homeopathic medicine involves the employment of a reagent that is known to heal a patient of his specific illness. Since the historical background of homeopathic medicine originates from the Eastern world, the field of homeopathic medicine is still considered an art instead of a scientific field. Early homeopathic procedures involved usage of specific extracts from plants, which have been historically discovered to heal a patient of a specific illness and at the same time, make the patient feel better. In addition, early homeopathic treatment also involved coaching and encouraging the patient to strive harder with his personal issues. It is thus envisioned that future research will ultimately promote the uses of homeopathic medicine and enhance its applicability to modern medicine. Today, treatment through the homeopathic medicine course involves the identification of the causative agent for a patient’s disease and conducting a treatment that should eliminate this causative agent. In addition, homeopathic medicine also involves providing a particular scenario to the patient that will facilitate his healing and encourage stability, nourishment and proper care. Similar to allopathic medicine, homeopathic medicine also employs the gathering of a historical account of the patient in order to create of holistic view of the current illness of the patient. In addition, homeopathic medicine also involves identifying patterns in the patient’s daily routine that may have induced his illness. Lastly, homeopathic medicine is similar to allopathic medicine because it also involves the selection of an appropriate treatment for the patient. However, allopathic or mainstream medicine is different from homeopathic medicine in the manner of selecting the appropriate treatment for the patient with a particular medical condition. Homeopathic medicine employs a holistic approach, considering not only the physical condition of the patient, but also the emotional and environment conditions that the patient is experiencing.
One common question that is given to a patient for homeopathic medicine treatment is the inquiry regarding what the patient himself has done in order to alleviate the symptom he was experiencing. In addition, the patient is also asked about his feedback regarding the illness, including which particular part of the illness was affecting him most. In homeopathic medicine, a patient is also commonly asked about what things he misses most in his life, considering that he is experiencing such medical conditions. The answers that the patient provides to the homeopathic health practitioner thus serve as bases for the selection of treatment.
Currently, there is a growing list of reports that indicate that homeopathic treatment of patients with particular diseases, especially that of cancer (Lee, 2004). It seems that the addition of homeopathic medical treatment, in combination to conventional medical therapeutics, enhances the healing potential of a patient because it provides another resource for the patient for both physical and mental healing. Several clinical trials have been conducted in the last decade and reports have indicated that homeopathic medicine is effective as compared to placebo control treatment. More importantly, the doses employed in the clinical trials were safe and that these did not induce any toxicity issues in the patients.
Based on the positive results of the clinical trials on homeopathic medicine, as well as the non-scientific testimonies of patients themselves, it would not be surprising if homeopathic medicine is included as part of the conventional medical treatment of all patients (Milgrom, 2007). More importantly, it would be helpful if the principles of homeopathic medicine were included in the training and continued education of nursing professionals, especially because these healthcare personnel directly interact with patients and carry a unique position between the physician and the patient. Nurses play an important role in the treatment and healing of a patient because they have the opportunity and capacity to encourage the patient to proceed with a certain activity, as well as prohibit or control a patient from performing an action that may further help in their deterioration. The principles of homeopathic medicine may be very helpful to nurses because they may have the capacity to know whether a patient is improving or not, because they frequently interact and check the patient several times a day.
Nurse practitioners, who have the authority to prescribe medications to patients, will also benefit from their knowledge and practice of homeopathic medicine and may even suggest particular drugs to the patient. Nurses also have the capacity to counsel patients with regards to their personal concerns with regards to their illness and this area of counselling is actually the main principle of homeopathic medicine. Hopefully, the future of nursing will thus include the capacity of nurses to practice homeopathic medicine on patients, in order to enhance the conditions for their treatment. The holistic and personal approach of homeopathic medicine will thus revolutionize treatment regimen in medicine.
References
Hankey A (2008): Self-consistent theories of health and healing. J. Altern. Complement. Med. 14(3):221-3.
Lee CO (2004): Homeopathy in cancer care: Part II- Continuing the practice of “like curing like”. Clin. J. Oncol. Nurs. 8(3):327-330.
Milgrom LR (2007): Toward a unified theory of homeopathy and conventional medicine. J. Altern. Complement. Med. 13(7):759-69.