om wend! ‘The Importance of Complementary and Alternative Healing in Nursing in the United States Meredith A. Cavour ‘Youngstown State University NURS 2610 Dr, Louise Aurilio, November 10, 2016Complementary and Alternative Healing in Nursing Abstract This paper is about the growing proctice of complementary and alternative healing or complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within the United States. It touches on the fundamental concepts such as* 1.) The body has the ability to heal itself; ) Health and healing are related to aharmony of mind, body and spirit; 3.) Basie, positive health practices build the foundation for healing: 4.) Approaches to healing are individualized: and 5.) Individuals are responsible for their own healing. It will also discuss common complementary and alternative healing therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic medicine and dietary aids. Finally, the paper closes on how nurses can successfully integrate complementary and alternative healing into their “ye / ) patient's conventional health care.‘Complementary and Alternative Healing in Nursing ‘The Importance of Complementary and Alternative Healing in Nursing in the United States ‘Complementary and alternative healing, also known as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is something that has increased in popularity within the United States. It has had a strong presence around other parts of the world for thousands of years in such places as Asia and Europe, but in recent decades, has made its way to the United States of America. The Mayo Clinic describes complementary and alternative healing as the common term for health and wellness practices that are not considered conventional Western medicine. Complementary teas in ation curent raion mes of wetment an altematve means in place of conventional medicinal treatments; (Pruthi, 2014), Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternati Healing ‘The Body has the Ability to Heal Itself Conventional medicine typically tells us that the body needs help healing itself with some son of intervention such as medicine or surgery whereas in complementary and alternative b ing there is the belief thatthe body can heal itself with assistance /(Cherry & Yeats, 2015, Health and Healing are Related to Harmony of Mind, Body, and Spirit Western medicine typically focuses on the system that has the issue but complementary ancl alternative healing believes putting equal attention on all aspects of the human being. “Holistic QD health views the mind, body and spirit as interdependent and functioning as a whole within the C27 v environment, Health depends on all these factors working togetneny” (Jarvis, 2016, pp. 7), Basic, Positive Health Practices Build the Foundation for Healing