Educational courses on non-pharmacologic complementary interventions for nurses across Europe: the INES mapping pilot study

Background Pharmacological interventions still form the mainstay of the management of pain, anxiety, sleep problems and discomfort. In Europe, however, an estimated 100 million people apply complementary non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) for these conditions. In their basic education, nurses do not generally learn about the various types of NPIs and how patients and health care professionals can use NPIs complementary to their standard care. Some nursing schools in Europe offer small-scale elective courses on NPIs, however, these course programmes are often based on individual initiatives. Little is publicly available about the content of these programmes and how they relate to the current nursing curriculum for EU countries.

Objectives This study aims to explore educational programmes on complementary NPIs for nurses in Europe.

Design A web-based open-access questionnaire administered through the online survey tool LimeSurvey® was designed by the authors.

Participants The questionnaire was sent to a purposive sample of 49 experts on nurse education and complementary NPIs from 16 European countries.

Methods The questionnaire consisted of five sections with 35 items regarding course content, teaching material, teaching methods and methods of assessment. In addition, respondents were invited to perform a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis about their education programme.

Results Thirty-one completed questionnaires were returned (response rate 63,3%). Courses from ten countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden) were described. Massage, meditation, mindfulness and relaxation are the most taught interventions. Anxiety, stress, chronic pain, depression and sleep problems are the most common symptoms addressed.

Conclusions Education for nurses on complementary NPIs and integrative nursing is diverse in both content and execution across Europe. The educational programmes from this survey are taught at regular nurse educational institutes, but are not yet embedded in mainstream education.