Experience of nurses in combined care program of traditional Chinese medicine: a qualitative research

Objective To describe the experience of nurses in combined care program of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and provide references for nursing managers. Methods The phenomenology research method was adopted in this study. Fourteen nurses who had achieved the combined care program of TCM participated in an in-depth interview. Data were analyzed by using phenomenological analysis. Results All nurses approved nursing program of TCM: finding sense of belonging in nursing work; demonstration of self-value; standardization of nursing tednnique; harmonious environmont of nursing work. But some defect still existed: too subjective evaluation item of nursing program of TCM; inappropriate evaluation table; lact of hospital characteristics of TCM nursing; deficiency of TCM knowledge. Conclusion Nursing managers should pay more attention to nurses' emotional experience, grasp the implementation of the problems during the program and improve the program, optimize the skills, provide trainings. Key words: Combined care program of traditional Chinese medicine; Nurses; Experience; Qualitative research