Nowadays, there is a tendency towards an increase in the number of patients with allergies. Furthermore, there is a lack of allergy-trained nursing staff, and it is difficult for patients to obtain proper treatment. Due to the inaccessibility of timely healthcare, people often turn to alternative treatments for allergies, such as herbal medicine and acupuncture. After analyzing four studies, it can be concluded that the best practice is implementing special training for nurses, arranging additional education related to allergy diseases.
Despite the progress and development of healthcare, alternative therapies continue to be used and even gain in popularity. The study of Hoang et al. (2021) discusses the effectiveness of herbal medicine in treating allergic rhinitis and refers to statistics from over 30 studies. However, the authors note that despite the effectiveness and safety, “standard treatments such as antihistamines and intranasal corticosteroids should be considered for a long-term treatment” (Hoang et al., 2021). Another alternative treatment for allergic rhinitis is acupuncture, which Yin et al. (2020) highlight in their analysis. Nonetheless, despite the potential effectiveness, the authors conclude that “high-quality RCTs are required to validate the above-presented findings” (Yin et al., 2020). Therefore, alternative methods are not best practices and cannot be recommended as a treatment for allergies.
Effective treatment can be driven by improved education of nursing staff. Diwakar et al. (2019) concluded that allergy-trained professionals were more preferred compared to non-trained nurses. This article demonstrates the importance of arranging additional specialized nursing education. As well as the article of Kelman et al. (2019) offers an implementation of a nurse-led allergy clinic and insists on special training for nurses. Nursing staff must be competent and have the necessary knowledge to care for patients with allergies effectively. Arranging special training for primary healthcare staff is the best practice related to allergy treatment issues.
References
Diwakar, L., Cummins, C., & Roberts, T. (2019). Understanding parent preferences for NHS pediatric allergy services. Clinical Allergy, 20(50), 1159-1165.
Hoang, M. P., Chitsuthipakorn, W., & Snidvongs, K. (2021). Herbal medicines for allergic rhinitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, 21(25), 1-12.
Kelman, M., Hammersley, V., Kendall, M., Mukherjee, M., Morrice, L., Harley, S., Schwarze, J., & Sheikh, A. (2019). Development and implementation of a nurse-led allergy clinic model in primary care: Feasibility trial protocol. NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 29(44), 432-443.
Yin, Z., Geng, G., Xu, F., Zhao, L., & Liang, F. (2020). Acupuncture methods for allergic rhinitis: A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Chinese Medicine, 15(109), 1-28.