There are many different avenues open to nursing graduates: you can work in a hospital, work in a doctor’s office, continue your education, or find employment in any number of government and health care facilities. One less common path is to turn to holistic medicine or alternative care therapies. Although many types of holistic medicine are looked down upon by the medical profession as a whole, many people swear by therapies like massage, acupuncture, herbalism, and even chiropractic medicine.
What is Chiropractic Health Care?
Chiropractic medicine is a type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that emphasizes the importance of the spine and the musculoskeletal system in overall bodily health. By manipulating the spine, joints, and tissues, a chiropractor hopes to heal different disorders and promote a healthier, more active lifestyle.
To the medical community, chiropractic medicine presents a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, the idea that working with the spine can “cure” ailments not directly related to the nervous system hasn’t yet caught on with standard Western medicine teachings. On the other hand, many people swear by the practice and really do reap valuable benefits from it. For nurses, this presents an even bigger problem: by becoming a chiropractic nurse, you straddle the line between the medical community and holistic medicine.
Should I Become a Chiropractic Nurse?
Straddling the medical boundary can be a difficult place to be, especially if you have gone through all of nursing school and are now a registered nurse with an advanced college degree and a license. Do you stay true to your education and work in a legitimized health care field, or do you work in a field that you believe in, even if it means stepping away from the health community?
No one can answer that question for you. As a chiropractic nurse, you will most likely be doing much of the same work you would be doing in any other setting, preparing patients for their sessions with the doctor, answering questions, and patient charting. However, because chiropractors are not doctors, they don’t prescribe medication or keep patients overnight, which will considerably reduce your job responsibilities and experience.
And because there are no formal courses that will allow you to specialize in chiropractic nursing, you will be on your own when it comes to continuing education within your field. In fact, because the level of education is fairly similar in length, you might be better off not going to nursing school and simply becoming a chiropractor instead.
Additional Nursing Options
Fortunately, there are alternate options if this is a field you’re interested in. You may work with osteopaths, orthopedic doctors, physical therapists, sports medicine providers, or other professionals who deal in the skeleton and muscle tissue, but within a more traditional medical setting. However, if you do have an interest in holistic modalities and how you might be able to combine your formal medical education with alternative options, chiropractic nursing might be perfect for you.
Related Topics:
Nursing and Holistic Health Care Centers
2 comments
Dr. Julie the Cowgirl Chiropractor
August 25, 2011 at 4:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you for your great information! I found someone who graduated in the FIRST animal chiropractic certification class.
chironurse
March 14, 2012 at 11:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I am very disappointed in this article as you state “because chiropractors are not doctors.” This statement is not at all accurate, in fact it’s slanderous and liable. D.C. stands for Doctor of Chiropractic, and they are also known as Chiropractic Physicians. They attend school and graduate with this degree. Because they don’t prescribe potentially dangerous medications does not mean they are not doctors.
Before you wrote this article did you bother to research and compare the training a chiropractor has in comparison to a medical doctor? For instance there is a great article titled “A Comparative Study of Chiropractic and Medical Education” from Altern Ther Health Med. 1998 (Sep); 4 (5): 64–75
This article states: “they are more similar than dissimilar” and “that the educational programs differ mostly in clinical practice.” The article stated that, “while medical students spend more time gaining clinical experience (1405 hours for chiropractic vs. 5227 hours for medicine, which includes a 3–year residency), chiropractic students spend more time in lectures and laboratories learning basic and clinical sciences (3790 hours for chiropractic vs. 2648 hours for medicine). Other comparisons showed that some subjects such as microbiology were equally represented in both curricula, while others, such as anatomy, physiology and pathology, were emphasized more in the chiropractic colleges.”
You mentioned that chiropractic presents a conundrum in the medical community because “on the one hand, the idea that working with the spine can “cure” ailments not directly related to the nervous system hasn’t yet caught on with standard Western medicine teachings.” First of all the Chiropractic Philosophy does not promote that chiropractic “cures” ailments. The Chiropractic Philosophy is that when there is a disturbance to the nervous system, then there is a dis-ease created in the body. This
dis-ease can lead to an improper expression of overall health. Chiropractic Philosophy and belief states that innate intelligence controls how the body functions. If there is a disturbance or interference within the nervous system and it is detected, removed, and corrected then homeostasis can be achieved.
If your article was going to help educate a nurse about the options of working in the Alternative Health Care Field, I would suggest you educate the nurse on the following:
1. There are many Alternative Health Care Practices: Chiropractic, Naturopathic, Osteopathic, Acupuncture, etc. and describe what each of them does.
2. Describe potential ways the nurse could function in each of these as a nurse.
3. State that not every state board of nursing may allow a nurse to practice within the alternative health care field and the nurse should know what the regulations are in her state. The nurse should also research the board of the particular practice and whether or not they recognize and allow nurses to perform duties within the role they are seeking.
4. State the nurse should know what job duties the nurse would perform within the job and does it fit in the nursing scope of practice.
5. The nurse should also be able to describe, demonstrate, and document how they are applying the nursing process in their job.
In case you are wondering I am a Holistic Nurse and I work in the chiropractic field. Before I began working in this field I checked with the board of nursing and chiropractic in my state to make sure it was acceptable. I researched what my responsibilities were to keeping my license current (I hold active licenses in two states) and how the nursing process would apply to my job and how it is documented.
Before you write another article in an attempt to educate a nurse about this field,please do your homework. Instead of passively aggressively attacking the chiropractic profession in the manner in which you did help educate the nurse at to what their role and responsibilities to both professions are.