What's "Traditional"?
"Biomedicine excels at treating acute and traumatic injuries, but is less successful with long-term or chronic conditions, such as allergies, arthritis and pain, which account for perhaps 70% of the U.S. health care budget. These conditions especially lend themselves to holistic approaches, whether offered by physicians or by nonphysician providers, whether presented within hospital walls or through referrals to outside practitioners.
"In a broader sense, what some U.S. medical communities label 'unorthodox' or 'unconventional,' 80% of the world calls 'traditional.' While the medical model has dominated health care in the last century, the rich tapestry of humanity's encounter with disease stretches across many cultures and millennia."
Cohen MH. Pro and con: insurance should cover alternative medicine. Available from Intellectual Capital (www.intellectualcapital.com ), March 25, 1999.
Don't Run with the Scissors The chiropractic profession isn't the only one that appears to be feeling the pinch of managed care. In recent years, the nursing arena has suffered a blow to its image due in large part to managed care's effect on specialty areas in which experienced and highly trained nurses are most in demand.
Some nurses and nursing advocates have begun to speak out about their plight. Take, for instance, the words of Barry Adams, a nursing activist who was fired after complaining about working conditions at a hospital-based nursing home.
"There's the old common-sense adage, 'You don't run with the scissors.' When a nurse has 10 patients, 15 patients, it is not conducive to safe nursing practices. When you're ... just pouring pills, just one wrong pill can be the end."1
Reference
Marquis J. Nurses stretched too thin, many say. Los Angeles Times August 27, 1998.
