National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center sets new policy on use of herbal and other alternative supplements by patients enrolled in clinical trials.

The nationwide concern over the escalating use of herbal and other alternative dietary supplements is prompting a call for action in health care organizations. Not only is there mounting evidence to support a strong concern for patient safety, but the use of these products by people participating in biomedical research protocols has an added impact on the integrity of the research design and data gathering. These issues are of increasing concern to the National Institutes of Health's hospital for biomedical research, the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center.

Complementary therapy in critical care settings: a review of surveys and implications for nurses.

Critical care nurses have been leaders in this field and need to further expand their influence in the work environment and healthcare system. The time is ideal for initiating meaningful system-wide changes in policy and practice. This review provides an historical context of surveys conducted in a variety of critical care settings in this country.

A systematic review of the quality of research on hands-on and distance healing: clinical and laboratory studies.

Purpose: To systematically review the quality of published experimental clinical and laboratory research involving hands-on healing and distance healing between 1955 and 2001.

Data Sources: Studies were identified through comprehensive literature searches on spiritual healing in MEDLINE, PSYCH LIT, EMBASE, CISCOM, and the Cochrane Library from their inceptions to December 2001.

Study Selection: We selected published randomized, controlled trials of spiritual healing (hands-on healing and distance healing) done in clinical and laboratory settings, all of which had been peer reviewed.

State boards of nursing and scope of practice of registered nurses performing complementary therapies.

This article provides a report of State Boards of Nursing (BONs) policies on the use of complementary therapies by registered nurses. This investigation was conducted for the White House Commission on Complementary Alternative Medicine Policy. The target sample for this report was fifty-three BONs in the United States.