Discussion postComplementary and alternative medicine

DQ 1 : Explore options for complementary and alternative medicine in psychiatric mental health care or functional medicine aspects that you could envision incorporating into your practice.

This is a prescribing note in discussion-post clothing. Seven headings are supplied, dose route and frequency are demanded, and the subject is narrowed to supplements and herbs.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 18, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

A prescribing-format answer about a supplement, not an essay

Read the format before the topic. The brief lists diagnostic testing and assessments, pharmacologic interventions including dosage, route and frequency, mechanism of action, contraindications, education covering health promotion and psychosocial needs, referrals, and follow-up with a return-to-clinic timeframe, a reason and supporting labs. That is a clinical documentation structure, and the marker will look for each heading. Then note the narrowing sentence: because this closes a psychopharmacology and prescribing course, keep it to supplements and herbs. That rules out the acupuncture, yoga and mindfulness answers a complementary-medicine prompt usually attracts, and points you at agents you can actually write a dose for. Work through the headings in the order the brief gives them, because that is the order a marker will read for. Reading the format first also tells you how long the post has to be, which the word count never does. Keeping to supplements and herbs also means you can write a real regimen rather than describe a practice.

Choose an agent with a real evidence base and real interactions, because both halves are graded. St John's wort for mild to moderate depression has trial evidence and is the textbook interaction case — a potent CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein inducer that lowers levels of oral contraceptives, warfarin, immunosuppressants and many antiretrovirals, and carries serotonin syndrome risk with SSRIs. Omega-3 fatty acids as adjunct in depression, S-adenosylmethionine, saffron, and melatonin for circadian sleep disturbance are alternatives with literature behind them. Whatever you choose, give an actual dose, route and frequency rather than a range copied from a website, name the mechanism, and be specific about contraindications and interactions with what your patient is already taking. Then handle the regulatory point in the education section: supplements are not reviewed for efficacy before marketing and product content varies between manufacturers, so telling a patient which certification to look for is part of prescribing here, not an aside.

Likely learning objectives

Answer a prompt in the clinical documentation format it specifies.
Select an agent with both an evidence base and documented interactions.
State a dose, route and frequency rather than a range.
Address supplement regulation as part of patient education.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

NU670-8D Unit 7 DQ 1 Discussion Prompt Explore options for complementary and alternative medicine in psychiatric mental health care or functional medicine aspects that you could envision incorporating into your practice. For this discussion, since this ends our psychopharmacology and prescribing course, keep your options focused on supplements, herbs, etc… Include the following: Diagnostic testing and assessments: Pharmacologic interventions: including dosage, route, and frequency Mechanism of Action (MOA) Contraindications Education, including health promotion, maintenance, and psychosocial needs: Referrals: Follow-up, including return to clinic (RTC) with a time frame and reason and any labs that support your choice with at least 1 peer-reviewed article within the timeframe of the last five (5) years. Responses need to address all components of the question, demonstrate critical thinking and analysis and include peer-reviewed journal evidence to support the student’s position. Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with in-text citations and corresponding references in APA format. Please review the rubric to ensure that your response meets the criteria. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours Discussion Peer/Participation Prompt NU670-8D Unit 7 DQ 1 ve comments using the following steps: Substantive comments add to the discussion and provide your fellow students with information that will enhance the learning environment. References and citations should conform to APA standards. Remember: Please respect the opinions of others, even if their views differ. In other words, disagree professionally and respectfully. Plagiarism is never acceptable – give credit when credit is due – cite your sources. Responses need to address all components of the question, demonstrate critical thinking and analysis and include peer-reviewed journal evidence to support the student’s position. Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with in-text citations and corresponding references in APA format.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Turn the brief into deliverables

01All seven headings the brief names, each answered.
02A named supplement or herb.
03Dose, route and frequency.
04Mechanism of action and contraindications, including drug interactions.
05A return-to-clinic timeframe with a reason and supporting labs.
06A peer-reviewed article from the last five years.