Handbook of Integrative Oncology Nursing: Evidence-Based Practice

Despite advancements in conventional medicine over the past thirty years, patients with cancer have continued to seek out different forms of healing. Complementary (also termed as integrative) and alternative therapies have grown so popular that nurses working in oncology need to learn integrative oncology.

Handbook of Integrative Oncology Nursing:: Evidence-Based Practice provides a reliable resource for nursing looking for information on the types of therapies their patients with cancer may be utilising outside of their care. Written by Georgia M. Decker and Colleen O. Lee, this new guide defines complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), examines the issue of making integrative assessments, identifies commonly used therapies, and takes a close look at how symptoms can be managed using CAM therapies.

This book also examines how the evidence suggests treatments should be used. For each symptom detailed in this text, you’ll find detailed tables identifying those treatments that have strong scientific evidence, good to moderate scientific evidence, and weak, negative, or conflicting scientific evidence. Sixteen symptoms representing a wide range - from anxiety to pain - are explored in this book.

Other symptoms covered include Anorexia-Cachexia Syndrome, Cognitive Dysfunction, Constipation, Depression, Diarrhea, Fatigue, Hormonal Changes and Hot Flashes, Insomnia, Mucositis, Myelosuppression, Nausea and Vomiting, Sexuality Alterations, Taste Changes, and Xerostomia.

In addition, you’ll find extensive tables on herbs and herbal extracts, information on nutritional considerations when undergoing CAM therapies, and an extensive appendices featuring the ONS position on CAM, the ten “cardinal rules” of herb use, and a listing of resources.