PEMF therapy for Nurse Practitioners

Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy for nurse practitioners is altogether an effective way to provide pain management and rehabilitation treatment. Nursing, neurorehabilitation, senior care and paralysis recovery centers should find immense benefit with the use of PEMF therapy. PEMF helps regenerate bones, cartilages and soft tissues, including wounds, faster and has proven anti-aging effects.

The job of a clinical nurse practitioner (CNS), registered nurse (RN) or a nurse practitioner chiefly involves examining patients, diagnosing illnesses and providing treatment much like physicians do. Moreover, they also have the added responsibility of providing care on an emotional level, analyzing data and ensuring the well-being of their clients.

Most nurses, however, actively engage in new research and PEMF is a great rehabilitation technology that is worthy of application. While there are different levels of certifications for nurses, PEMF therapy is a great recovery enhancing tool that we’re sure you can try or promote to practitioners in your center once the benefits are understood.

Why is PEMF needed in a nursing practice?

There are many problems that nurses face including inadequate resources and facilities.  Also, there is an overall shortage of nurses in the US, and we’re sure in many other countries today. There is not enough emphasis on holistic nursing and it could be one of the reasons why some nurses are prone to frustrations at work as well as troublesome patients. Most people will agree that rehabilitation and recovery should address the body and the mind. The goal is to improve outcomes and this is where PEMF excels, it has a regenerative effect on the neurological and cellular level.

Therefore, PEMF therapy for nurse practitioners is a much needed technology. Let us review some of the research that supports the use of PEMF for nurse practitioners as well as the conditions that typically require rehab services.

Relevant PEMF therapy research for Nurses

There are thousands of studies and hundreds of clinical trials about applying PEMF therapy. Nurses are advised to study as many of them as time allows to get a balanced perspective on the application of PEMF therapy. We’ve covered some studies below to give a glimpse of the possibilities of applying PEMF for nurses.

In general, PEMF is effective for pain relief but can also reverse cellular aging resulting in faster recovery.

One problem that patients face after surgery is the use and addiction to pain killers. PEMF therapy has anti-inflammatory effects resulting in pain relief, naturally. Thus, it can substantially reduce the need for pain medication especially opioids that have a drastic negative effect on a person’s well-being.

In 2017, scientists from Iran conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that tested the efficacy of PEMF treatment for post-surgical pain management.^​1​ They found, PEMF treatment after C-section decreases postsurgical pain, analgesic use, and surgical wounds significantly, moreover the patients reported high levels of satisfaction. This research is quite interesting as it also shows that PEMF treatment is indeed holistic, patients feel good.

Nursing Outlook, the official journal of the American Academy of Nursing studied the effect of PEMF therapy on the quality of life of military service members with chronic back pain and found that it reduces anxiety significantly.^​2​

Further Findings

In 2015, an Advances in Skin & Wound Care journal study evaluated the effect of PEMFs on chronic diabetic foot ulcers and found that it can accelerate wound healing and improve microcirculation within 3 weeks of daily 1 hour PEMF application. The difference was almost 50% more healing in the PEMF group.^​3​

Rehabilitation during recovery from brain stroke requires extensive nursing. Often these patients are frustrated and their mental health is low. PEMF therapy is an amazing treatment for such cases as it not only accelerates neurological recovery^​4​ but also has anti-depression^​5​ effects.

Scientists from Turkey’s top medical universities recently concluded that PEMF therapy in cervical disc herniation provides improved pain relief (VAS scale) as well as quality of life (Nottingham Health Profile) to the patients.^​6​

PEMF has been studied to also reduce pain and accelerate healing postoperatively after plastic surgery^​7​, breast augmentation^{​8​ ​9​}, lumbar surgery^​10​, hematoma^​11​, oral surgery^​12​ and back surgery^​13​ among others.

Per the research evidence, PEMF therapy also has a huge potential to support senior care nursing services that require taking care of patients with age-related disorders such as alzheimer’s disease^​14​, parkinson’s disease^​15​, arthritis^​16​, osteoporosis^​17​, cancer^​18​, respiratory diseases^{​19​ ​20​} , shingles^​21​, and fibromyalgia. Apart from the studies linked here as introductory evidence, there are other PEMF therapy studies and trials that can be reviewed.

Conclusions

Strong research evidence is available now that suggests PEMF therapy is a viable and effective rehabilitation tool that has potential to improve senior health. Nursing service providers and nurse practitioners should definitely consider offering PEMF treatment to improve outcomes and make nursing easier. Due to the combined effects of improved mental wellness, bone, tissue and neurological recovery, PEMF is indeed an important advancement in patient care.

Many PEMF machines are available today. High-intensity PEMF systems are generally useful for faster recovery and clinical treatments, while more affordable lower intensity whole-body PEMF systems or medium-intensity portable PEMF devices can be rented or supplied to patients by rehabilitation centers for continued long-term use and benefit.