Nurses\u27 attitudes toward alternative cancer therapies

This study aims to investigate nurses\u27 attitudes toward alternative cancer therapies. A self-administered questionnaire designed by the researcher was distributed to 1154 nurses at 223 facilities. 743 of them responded, for a response rate or 64.4%. 439 of the 741 nurses (59.2%) reported having been asked for advice on alternative therapies by cancer patients, and 367 (53.1%) reported difficulty in responding to such inquiries. To the question "What is your attitude toward alternative therapies?", the top response (49.4%) was "It is neither positive nor negative." To the multiple-choice question "What do you think are the benefits of alternative therapies to cancer patients?", many respondents chose "Patients or their families find satisfaction in having done all they can to fight the disease," "Patients can reduce their anxiety," and "Patients can find hope and encouragement." To the multiple-choice question "What do you think are the adverse influences of alternative therapies on cancer patients?", many respondent chose "Those therapies pose a great financial burden", "Those therapies are of dubious effectiveness and safety," and "The patients may fall victim to unscrupulous businesses." These results suggest that nurses regard alternative therapies as effective in the sense that the therapies can give cancer patients satisfaction, anxiety and hope, but that the nurses found it difficult to respond to requests for information on alternative therapies, because their effectiveness and safety have not been scientifically proven.国立情報学研究所の「学術雑誌公開支援事業」により電子化されました