Background There has been an increasing interest in CAM methods in recent years, which the importance of evaluating the personal experiences of nurses concerning CAM methods, as well as their attitudes and experiences concerning the use of these methods by their patients.

Aims and objectives The objective of this study is to determine the experiences and attitudes of nurses concerning Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) methods used by themselves and their patients.

Design This is a descriptive study.

Method This study was conducted at Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya, Turkey, between January and April 2013. 220 (80%) nurses working directly on patient care were included in the study. In the study, a questionnaire prepared by researchers was used as a data collection form.

Results It was determined that 85% of nurses included in the study used one or more CAM methods. Among CAM methods, nurses were mainly acquainted with praying (98.6%), massage (95.5%) and they also used them efficiently. While 8% of nurses stated that the responsibility of informing patients about CAM methods belonged to nurses, 47.6% stated that it belonged to doctors. 92.7% of nurses expressed no negative experience concerning CAM methods used by their patients.

Conclusions It was determined that nurses did not question CAM methods used by their patients and did not consider them among their own responsibilities. The fact that nurses did not have negative attitudes about CAM methods and had positive experiences about patients may enable them to be more active in integrative nursing practices.