The Complementary and Alternative Medicine refers to a combination of medical substances and healthcare practices traditionally essential but currently not included in conventional medicine. Through research, traditional healthcare practices have continued to demonstrate safety and efficacy. This is enhancing gradual incorporation into conventional medicine. According to the Center for Disease Control, there has been a need to establish how safe and effective the CAM before incorporation into conventional medicine to relieve the peoples' well-being and relieve symptoms from chronic illnesses.
Patients with more than one medical condition or chronic diseases such as cancer comprise the common patients using CAM (Barcan, 2020) . The use of CAM is closely associated with people's demographic characteristics and other individual factors. CAM plays a critical role in alleviating pain from patients suffering from chronic diseases.
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There are several misconceptions associated with CAM. The CAM is only considered to be an alternative medication rather than a form of medication by themselves. The medication is considered holistic medicine rather than mainstream. Studies have established how effective this medication can be through research, enhancing their introduction into conventional medicine. Another misconception is that natural doctors tend to use conventional medicine.
In many cases, however, there are wide consultations before administering a medication. Some people believe that CAM is not science-based (Barcan, 2020) . However, scientific evidence exists for a wide range of treatments, such as massage therapy.
Deployment of CAM in patient education is essential, enabling patients to make medication decisions. Several methods are applied to making use of CAM in patient education. In making medications about the most appropriate medication, there is a need to provide enough scientific evidence focusing on the harm and the benefits of use. The dietary supplement and education act helps to achieve quality improvement in CAM.
One of the key factors in determining the use of medication is safety. In the united states, there is ongoing research to determine the safety of CAM. The CAM practices are praised for offering extensive health benefits at a lower cost and a reduced margin of risk. Research in CAM will be very effective in offering directions on the safe use of CAM. Patients and healthcare professionals should decline using CAM with harmful impacts.
Conventional medicine and CAM can be integrated in several ways. Research has established that some CAM function the same way as some conventional medicine. In such cases, healthcare professionals should encourage patients to use CAM (Chang & Chang, 2015) . In some rural areas, effective CAM is widely available. In such cases, there is a need to use CAM alongside conventional medicine. Some CAM plays a critical role in alleviating pain in patients with chronic infections. In such cases, patients should use CAM alongside conventional medicine.
Ethical theories refer to gradual efforts to develop a better understanding of various moral concepts and justification of moral theories and principles. Ethical principles refer to the normative theory that tends to defend or justify moral rules of judgments. Ethics in value defines what is good and what is not good. The doctor-patient relationship is critical in healthcare. To be deemed justified, medical interventions should result in more benefits than risks. Ethics in patient education requires that doctors disclose critical information to a patient without concealing critical information. An ideal doctor-patient relationship results in increased compliance. When a good doctor-patient relationship is not established, it results in higher levels of non-compliance.
Patient education should observe a high level of ethics. When offering patient education, healthcare professionals should not demonstrate bias. Patients should be allowed to make their own medication decisions independently. Confidentiality is another critical aspect of patient education. Disclosing a patient's medication or diagnosis information is a criminal offense (Chang & Chang, 2015) . Healthcare professionals should keep such information confidential. Patient education is aimed at improving the patients well being.
Before undertaking any medication or diagnosis, healthcare professionals need to obtain informed consent form the patient. The consent acknowledges that the patient is aware s the procedures being carried out on them. The relationship between the healthcare professional and the patient has a huge impact on whether a patient gives consent. A bad relationship is likely to hinder a patient from giving consent, while a good relationship would encourage a patient to consent. Patients also need to have sufficient medication information to make an informed consent.
Sample informed consent
I (patients name) ..................... do agree that a surgical medical procedure will be undertaken on me on 12/12/2010 at Avenue Hospital. The medical procedure being undertaken is aimed to help remove a growing tumor in my skull. I have interacted with my doctor enough, and has informed me of the benefits and the risks of the medication procedure and the probable outcomes. I agree that the doctor will take a blood sample to facilitate tests before the main procedure. I have been informed about no promise of success in the outcome, and the success of the operation will determine the outcome.
Name of patient......................................................................
Signature of patient................................................................
Date........................................................................................
Name of doctor.........................................................................
Signature of doctor....................................................................
Date...........................................................................................
Reference
Barcan, R. (2020). Complementary and alternative medicine: bodies, therapies, senses . Routledge.
Chang, H. Y., & Chang, H. L. (2015). A review of nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and ability to communicate the risks and benefits of complementary and alternative medicine. Journal of clinical nursing , 24 (11-12), 1466-1478.
