Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Nursing

Mariah Snyder PhD, RN, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Her professional career has included teaching courses on complementary therapies, conducting research on the use of complementary therapies in persons with dementia and managing stress in persons with chronic illnesses, and assisting international nurses to incorporate complementary therapies in practice and education. Dr. Snyder was a founding member of the Center for Spirituality and Healing in the Academic Health Center and was a primary contributor to the development of its interdisciplinary minor--the first such minor in the United States. Her retirement activities include using complementary therapies in women with addictions and who are imprisoned, and assisting with developing the library at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis, MN, a college preparatory school for students from economically poor families.

||Ruth Lindquist, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN, FAHA is a Professor in the School of Nursing, and faculty member of the Center for Spirituality and Healing in the Academic Health Center of the University of Minnesota. She is a research consultant for the Women's Heart Health Program of the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Her research as a Densford Scholar in the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership focused on critical care nurses' attitudes toward and use of complementary/alternative therapies. Her recent research focuses on cardiovascular patient response to the use of therapies in the context of hospitalization with acute cardiac conditions, and the use of complementary therapies, exercise, and cardiac support groups to reduce stress and improve quality of life of women with heart disease.