Acknowledge and practices of nurses working in surgical clinics about complementary and alternative methods for common postoperative symtoms

Aim: This study was carried out to determine acknowledge and practices of surgical nurses on complementary and alternative methods for the frquent postoperative symptoms. Material and Methods: This study was conducted with 164 nurses who accepted participating in study and working in surgery clinics of Turgut Özal Medical Center and Malatya Training and Research Hospital. Data were collected june- december 2017 throug. Data were collected through a questionnaire form which was developed by researchers to evaluate the knowledge and practices of nurses about complementary and alternative methods for postoperative patients. Data were evaluated by using frequency, percentage and chi square test. Results: Determined that 75.6% of nurses participating in the study were women, 75.6% of them were undergraduate and 29.9% had 15 years of professional experience. Found that 19-29 age group surgical nurses, applying more complementary and alternative methods. The most known CAM by surgical nurses were cold application (78%), hot application (73.2%), massage (54.3%), spiritual therapy (40.2%) and herbal therapy (39%); the most commonly used CAM after surgery are; cold application (40.2%), hot application (34.1%), herbal treatment (27.4%), massage (22.6%) and spiritual treatment (15.2%) was found. Conclusion: As a result, determined that the surgical nurses' knowledge about CAM was at a desired level, but they did not adequately apply CAM for symptoms what seen in postoperative patients. Key words: Complementary and Alternative Methods; Symptoms; Postoperative Care; Nursing