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Call for papers - Complementary nursing interventions

Guest Editors:
Nokuthula Gloria Nkosi: WITS University, South Africa
Zeng Jie Ye: Guangzhou Medical University, China

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 5 August 2024


BMC Nursing is now accepting submissions to a Collection on complementary nursing interventions. “Complementary nursing interventions” encompass a diverse array of holistic practices meant to augment the effectiveness of conventional nursing care. These interventions, such as acupuncture, yoga, music therapy, and mindfulness-based techniques, are integrated with standard nursing practices to improve patient outcomes, foster well-being, and promote a patient-centered approach to healthcare. Through this Collection we seek to highlight new research on these practices and their potential benefits. 

New Content ItemThis collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health & Wellbeing.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Dr Nokuthula Gloria Nkosi: Senior Lecturer Department of Nursing Education, WITS University, South Africa

Dr Nokuthula Gloria Nkosi (PhD) is a mental health nurse specialist. She is a senior lecturer at University of the Witwatersrand in the Nursing Education Department. She lectures undergraduates and supervises PhD and MSc nursing students. Her specialty is mental health promotion using psychosocial interventions and she has presented and published her research locally and internationally. Her research project currently is aimed at standardizing psychosocial interventions for vulnerable people in poor resourced communities. She has a private practice which aims at promoting mental wellbeing of women during and after pregnancy. Outside her working time, she is a radio presenter on a health and wellness show. 

Dr Zeng Jie Ye: Professor of Nursing, Guangzhou Medical University, China

Dr Ye is the Nanshan Professor of Nursing in Guangzhou Medical University and has been featured among World’s Top 2% Scientists List (Nursing) created by Stanford University. His research interests mainly focus on Patient Reported Outcome (PRO), quality of life, psycho-oncology, cancer nursing, resilience, and psychometrics. Currently, he is working on the development and validation of a Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer (RS-SC) in different cultural contexts.

About the collection

BMC Nursing is now welcoming submissions to a new Collection on complementary nursing interventions. This topical Collection aims to explore diverse therapies and practices that complement conventional nursing care and foster holistic well-being and improved patient outcomes.

Complementary nursing interventions encompass a wide range of non-traditional, non-pharmaceutical approaches that can be integrated with standard nursing care. Research has increasingly shown that implementing these holistic approaches supports the healing process and promotes good physical and mental health. This Collection seeks to showcase such evidence-based research, innovative insights, and best practices that highlight the effectiveness and benefits of incorporating these complementary interventions into nursing practice.

We invite researchers, practitioners, and scholars in nursing and interdisciplinary fields to contribute original research to this Collection to expand access to and understanding of the efficacy of complementary nursing practices. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

   •  Longitudinal or qualitative observational studies on integrative therapies, such as acupuncture, yoga, meditation, occupational therapy, and music therapy into nursing care plans.

   •  Research and study protocols on pre-intervention nursing evaluations (e.g., unmet need for acupuncture or Chinese medicine).

   •  Investigations of non-pharmacological treatment interventions such as relaxation techniques, heat therapy, and massage, in conjunction with standard pain management strategies.

   •  Mindfulness-based interventions, art therapy, and nature-based approaches on mental health promotion and resilience-building among patients and healthcare providers alike.

   •  The role of complementary therapies in managing chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory diseases.

   •  Using complementary interventions to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life for patients receiving palliative or end-of-life care.

   •  Innovative perspectives that advance the development and validation of new theories as well as Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) in complementary nursing coming from interdisciplinary studies.

   •  The ethical dimensions and challenges related to the use of complementary nursing interventions within diverse healthcare settings.


Image credit: Wongsakorn / Stock.adobe.com

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles, Study Protocols, Meta Analyses, Systematic Reviews, and Comments. Should you wish to submit a different article type, or to check that your submission is formatted correctly, please read about formatting requirements and other acceptable submission types within our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Complementary nursing interventions" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.