Effects of Acupressure on Nurses
- Conditions
- Psychological DistressAnxietyDepressionNursesAcupressure
- Registration Number
- NCT06946888
- Lead Sponsor
- Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital.
- Brief Summary
This measure aimed to understand the effects of self-acupressure (Shenmen and Neiguan points on the hand) on emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress, work fatigue, and adaptability among clinical nurses. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Whether acupressure therapy can reduce nurses' emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress, and work fatigue.
Whether to perform acupressure therapy to improve nurse resilience.
Participants will:
1. Enforcement measures:
1. Acupressure group: Perform self-acupressure twice a day, each time for about 2 minutes, and record the acupressure records every day for 2 weeks.
2. Original method group: Follow the original self-coping method and fill out the "Daily Emotional Distress Self-Assessment Form" every day.
2. After the intervention began, participants completed the study questionnaires weekly for two months (9 times in total).
- Detailed Description
1. Purpose of the Study:
The goal of this study is to understand emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stress, workplace fatigue, and resilience among clinical nurses, as well as the factors related to these conditions. We also want to evaluate the effects of different coping methods-either by self-pressing specific acupuncture points (Shenmen and Neiguan on the hand) or using your usual ways of managing stress and anxiety.
2. About the Acupressure Points:
• Shenmen Point (神門): Shenmen, located on the inner wrist, is a key point on the Heart Meridian. It's often used in traditional Chinese medicine to calm the mind, ease anxiety, help with sleep problems, headaches, and emotional fatigue.
• Neiguan Point (內關): Neiguan is located on the inner forearm. Pressing this point can help relieve stress, reduce bloating, calm palpitations, and improve sleep. It's often used when feeling tense or anxious.
• Usual Coping Methods: If you're assigned to this group, you'll simply continue handling stress and anxiety the way you normally do.
3. Who Can Join the Study:
You can join this study if:
* You're a clinical nurse aged 20 or older.
* Your screening results show a distress score of 3 or above, or a mood thermometer score of 4 or above.
* You're willing and able to fill out questionnaires at specific times over the next two months.
You cannot join this study if:
* You participated in a similar study within the last month.
* You currently work in administrative or non-patient care units (like the supply center).
* You are currently pregnant.
4. Study Procedures:
If you agree to participate and sign the consent form, we'll ask you to fill out several questionnaires. These will cover your basic info, emotional distress, mood, depression, anxiety, work stress, fatigue, and resilience. It takes about 10-20 minutes to complete.
If your distress score is 3 or higher, or your mood score is 4 or higher, you'll be randomly assigned to one of two groups:
• Acupressure Group: You'll learn how to press the Shenmen and Neiguan points on your hands and do it yourself twice a day (about 2 minutes each time) for 2 weeks. You'll also keep a simple daily log of your acupressure practice.
• Usual Care Group: You'll continue with your usual ways of coping and fill out a short daily emotional self-assessment form.
We'll check in with you every week using the same set of questionnaires to track changes for two months. In total, you'll be asked to fill out the survey 9 times.
5. Possible Side Effects and How to Handle Them:
• From the Acupressure: When pressing the Shenmen or Neiguan points, you might feel a sensation like soreness, tingling, pressure, or slight pain-this is normal and usually tolerable. There's no research showing any harmful side effects from pressing these points. If it ever feels too uncomfortable, you can adjust the pressure.
• From Participation: The risks of being in this study are similar to your normal daily experiences. If you ever feel unwell or uncomfortable during the study, you're free to stop at any time. You can also contact our emergency contact person.
6. Expected Benefits:
Past studies and traditional practices suggest that pressing the Shenmen and Neiguan points can help reduce anxiety, stress, insomnia, and related symptoms. While we can't guarantee this study will help you personally, it may help healthcare professionals understand better ways to support nurses-and might benefit others in the future.
7. What We Ask from You During the Study:
* Don't join other similar clinical studies while participating in this one.
* Please fill out the daily logs honestly and on time.
* Provide accurate information in the questionnaires.
8. Your Privacy is Protected:
We'll collect only the information needed for this study. All your personal data and survey responses will be kept confidential. Instead of using your name or personal ID, we'll assign you a code so that your identity remains anonymous in all records.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 160
- Clinical nurses aged 20 years or older from a designated medical center.
- Nurses who score ≥3 on the emotional distress thermometer or ≥4 on the Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5) based on self-reported questionnaires.
- Able and willing to complete the required study questionnaires during the 2-month study period.
- Nurses who refuse to participate after being informed about the study or are unable to comply with the study protocol.
- Nurses working in non-patient-care units (e.g., administrative departments or supply centers).
- Pregnant nurses.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Depression At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The Taiwanese Depression Scale (Lee, 2001) was used as an 18-item self-assessment scale, which includes emotional, psychological, and physical symptoms related to depression. The Likert four-point scoring method is used, with 0 points for never or rarely (less than 1 day a week), 1 point for sometimes (1-2 days a week), 2 points for often (3-4 days a week), and 3 points for often or always (5-7 days a week). The total score ranges from 0 to 54 points. The higher the score, the higher the degree of depression. Based on the depression score, scores below 8 are normal, 9-14 are mild depression, 15-18 are moderate depression, and above 19 are severe depression (Tsai, 2014). In terms of reliability, the internal consistency Cronbach's α value was 0.90 (Lee, 2001) and the test-retest reliability was 0.87 (Wang, 2004).
Mood Thermometer (Brief Symptoms Rating Scale, BSRS-5) At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The "mood thermometer" designed and developed by Li et al. (2010) was used with the aim of being able to quickly understand the degree of psychological distress of an individual. Five questions were used to measure personal subjective psychological distress, including anxiety, anger, depression, inferiority and insomnia. A five-point scale of 0-4 was used, with 0 representing none at all, 1 being mild, 2 being moderate, 3 being severe and 4 being very severe. The higher the score, the higher the degree of psychological distress. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale is 0.77-0.90, and the test-retest reliability is 0.82.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Resilience At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The "Medical Personnel Resilience Scale" developed by Xiao et al. in 2019 was used, which consists of 10 questions and is scored on a five-point Likert scale, with 5 points representing "strongly agree" to 1 point "strongly disagree". The higher the score, the better the resilience. In 2019, Xiao et al. conducted a questionnaire survey on 829 hospital cases and found that the questionnaire had good model fit (GFI=0.973), factor loadings were between 0.5 and 0.95, standard errors were less than 0.25, and Cronbach's α value was 0.91, indicating good reliability and validity.
anxiety At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The State Anxiety Inventory consists of 20 questions about anxiety-related emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. The selection range of the scale is 1 (not at all consistent), 2 (somewhat consistent), 3 (quite consistent), 4 (very consistent). The 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 19th, and 20th questions are reversed and scored in reverse. The scale score range is 20-80 points, with scores of 20 to 39 (mild anxiety), 40 to 59 (moderate anxiety), and 60 to 80 (severe anxiety). The higher the total score, the more anxious you are. The Cronbach α of the State Anxiety Scale is 0.93 (Elliott, 1993; Dincer \& Inangil, 2021).
Nurse Stress At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The Nurse Stress Checklist consists of 14 questions and three factors (low self-development, workload, and job characteristics). Each question is scored from 1 to 5, and the total score ranges from 14 to 70. Higher scores represent greater stress. The Cronbach's α coefficients of the internal consistency of the three factors were 0.81, 0.73, and 0.77, respectively. It can be seen that the reliability of each subscale of this scale is acceptable (Huang, Wang, \& Yang, 2017).
Workplace fatigue At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The workplace fatigue scale compiled by Ye et al. (2008) was used, which includes four factors: "personal fatigue", "work fatigue", "client fatigue" and "work over-commitment". The assessment is based on "always" (score is 100 points), "often" (75 points), "sometimes" (50 points), "uncommonly" (25 points), and "never" (0 points). The average score ranges from 0 to 100 points. The higher the score, the higher the workplace fatigue. The Cronbach's alpha of the scales were all above 0.84 ( Ye et al., 2008 ), indicating that the four subscales had high internal consistency.
Distress Thermometer At baseline and once weekly for 8 weeks. The Distress Thermometer (DT) was used, with a scale ranging from 0 (no distress) to 10 (extreme distress), with higher scores representing higher levels of distress. A score to assess emotional distress over the past period of time (including today). The sensitivity values of the Distress Thermometer (DT) ranged from 0.50 to 1.00, with a median of 0.83. Specificity values ranged from 0.36 to 0.98, with a median of 0.68 (Donovan et al., 2014).
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital
🇨🇳Kaohsiung, Zuoying District, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital🇨🇳Kaohsiung, Zuoying District, Taiwan