Acupuncture and Oriental body work: traditional and biomedical concepts in holistic care: history and basic concepts.

Acupuncture and related forms of Oriental body work, such as shiatsu and acupressure, have become increasingly part of the complementary and alternative health care in the last twenty years in the United States. Yet most consumers and professionals, nurses included, know little or nothing about the philosophical and diagnostic underpinnings of these forms of treatment. The frameworks underlying these modalities are intrinsically holistic, and provide an interesting model for nurses and others who are looking for different ways to think about data from patient care. Part I of two articles presents descriptions of practices, and an introduction to the history and basic concepts underlying Chinese acupuncture and related forms of Oriental body work.