The inclusion of complementary medicine in Australian nursing and midwifery courses : a survey pre-test

University of Technology Sydney. Graduate School of Health.Complementary medicine (CM) is a health service that is highly accessed by the public and evidence of the prevalence of CM use has grown over the last two decades. CM use by the choice of individuals under the care of conventional healthcare professionals, such as midwives and nurses, is increasing due to the general acceptance of CM use. Existing competency standards underpin the accreditation process for nurses and midwives and ensure these practicing professionals can better navigate patient choices and understand the implications of their patients accessing a variety of health services. These standards allude to the need for nurses and midwives to be familiar with and able to competently practice in a healthcare landscape that is characterised by high CM use. Despite this, there has been insufficient study of conventional healthcare courses (CHC) in nursing and midwifery or of key decision-makers in nursing and midwifery teaching programs to explore the current inclusion of CM in course offerings. This study aimed to develop a quantitative tool to investigate CM content inclusion in Australian nursing and midwifery courses, to be mapped

The potential role of complementary medicine in women with pelvic pain

Introduction: There has been an increase in support for women with endometriosis recently, yet very little for women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) more broadly. Women with CPP and endometriosis are underserviced due to low awareness and understanding in research and practitioner communities. This project aims to contribute to engaging complementary medicine (CM) and integrative practitioners in sustainable systems of healthcare to help fill that unmet need. Methods: Australian women with endometriosis or pelvic pain were participated in three focus groups. Thematic analysis was conducted on transcribed transcripts using the constant comparative method to determine new theme presence. Results: Women who experienced CPP had a wide range of painful symptoms that were not well controlled. They felt that their doctors often downplayed or ignored their symptoms, and this idea of them ‘making it up’, combined with a lack of effective treatment, negatively affected their mental health. These women were unsure about where to turn for help and good advice, and had to become their own ‘disease managers’. Women were interested in multi-disciplinary options for management, but often did not know where to look. Conclusion: Women with CPP lack support from conventional medical care and this underscores the need for information and services to support women through a currently incurable and mostly untreatable lifelong condition, for which CM practitioners are ideally suited. From a translational aspect; these women's voices can inform other research in CPP and endometriosis so future women's health services are more patient centred and ultimately evidence-based

[In Press] "A day-to-day struggle" : a comparative qualitative study on experiences of women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) in women is a term that encompasses a range of conditions, including endometriosis, vulvodynia, painful bladder syndrome and adenomyosis. Given the impact on penetrative sex, fertility and potentially motherhood, CPP may also impact on women’s identities as a wife or partner, a mother, and a woman. The aim of this study was to explore similarities and differences in experiences of women with endometriosis and non-endometriosis related CPP. A total of 17 participants aged between 21 and 48 years old participated in three focus groups. Using reflexive thematic analysis three main themes were found: the struggling woman, the unheard woman and the self-silenced woman. Women, regardless of the cause of their CPP, reported significant impacts on their intimate relationships, fertility, and parenting but those with non-endometriosis CPP often reported greater trouble communicating about pelvic pain in the workplace due to the ‘taboo’ nature of discussing their vulval pain. Many participants described how a societal normalisation of pelvic pain resulted in women silencing their experiences, rendering their pain invisible. While women wanted to resist such silencing through information and support seeking, women with non-endometriosis CPP described fewer avenues to accessing credible informational resources or networks for support