Complementary and alternative medicine use among undergraduate nursing & midwifery students in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by nursing and midwifery students. A cross-sectional survey was performed among nursing and midwifery students. Second, third and fourth year students were taken in the sample group. The mean age of the students was 21.37 +/- 2.23. 72.4% of the participants had knowledge about CAM. The sources of information were firstly books/magazines (65.5%) and school (60.3%). 93.5% of the students preferred to use both CAM and medical treatments at their illnesses. The rate of the students, who use CAM in patient care, was 72.7%. Hot and cold application (51.6%), massage (50.9%) and exercise (48.7%) were the most chosen methods by students, to use in patient care and to recommend them to the patients. They also pointed that, CAM affects the psychology of patients positively (65.5%), accelerates the healing process (59.6%). 86.5% of the participants pointed that; they want the integration of CAM, especially massage (74.2%) and meditation (46.9%) into the curriculum. The majority of the students reported that using and recommending CAM to their patients is beneficial. These methods should be integrated into the curriculum. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.