Nurses Using, Recommending Supplements

WASHINGTONA large majority (85 percent) of nurse practitioners agree one of the roles of health care professionals is to provide patients with information about dietary supplements, according to new research from the Lifesupplemented 2009 Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study.

Supplements can be overlooked, but they shouldnt be, said Barbara Dehn, RN, MS, NP with Womens Physicians in Mountain View, Calif., and advisor to the Lifesupplemented program. Nurse practitioners are very interested in integrative health care options, looking at the overall wellness picture, and figuring out how we focus on health maintenance and preventive approaches. I recommend my patients start with the basics: eat right, incorporate vitamins and other supplements, and exercise regularly.

According to the study, nurse practitioners are personally incorporating the three pillars of health into their own lives: 84 percent said they try to eat a balanced diet, 95 percent take dietary supplements, and 64 percent exercise regularly. Among the common dietary supplements theyre using are multivitamins (79 percent), calcium (63 percent), omega-3s/fish oil (48 percent), glucosamine/chondroitin (18 percent), green tea (23 percent), and fiber (17 percent).

Further, 96 percent of nurse practitioners recommend supplements for a variety of reasonsmost often for bone health (63 percent recommend for this reason), overall health and wellness (47 percent) and to fill nutrition gaps (44 percent). Not only are they recommending supplements to their patients, but theyre talking about them. Eighty-one percent of nurse practitioners personally inquire about which supplements patients are taking (and only 3 percent state no one in the practice inquires about supplements). When asked who brings up the subject of supplements most often, 55 percent of nurse practitioners said they personally ask, with 28 percent crediting nurse practitioners and patients equally, and only 17 percent crediting solely the patient. And while 83 percent of nurse practitioners say patients are generally comfortable telling them about supplement usage, a smaller percentage (70 percent) feel their patients are generally honest and forthcoming about their use of dietary supplements.

That dynamic has to change, Dehn said. I hope that patients know how open we are to hearing about their supplement use, especially if theyre on medications. This is so we can ensure theyre aware of potential interactions with their drugs, but equally as important, so we can help address any nutrient depletions caused by medications. At the same time, nurse practitioners, doctors and all health care professionals have to do a better job being open to listening to patients when it comes to supplements. These are mainstream products, and its our job to help our patients figure out which supplements best meet their individual needs.