Background: Nurses have generally poor sleep quality due to inadequate rest. Such may impact negatively on physical and mental health as well as social interactions and work performance. Purpose: This study was designed to explore the effects of auricular acupressure on sleep quality in nurses. Methods: This study, which used a quasi-experimental design, targeted nurses working at a medical center in central Taiwan who scored above 5 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). One hundred and six qualified participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Those in the experimental group received auricular acupressure for six weeks and those in the control group received no intervention. Main outcome indexes were measured using the PSQI and heart rate variability (HRV). Results: After six weeks of auricular acupressure intervention, the PSQI score of the experimental group had greater declined from 9.34 (pre-test) to 5.57 (post-test, a 40.4% reduction). The control group saw a smaller reduction of 14.6% (declining from 9.15 pre-test to 7.81 post-test, p<.001). Differences between experimental and control group HRV data were statistically insignificant. Conclusions/Implications for practice: Shift work was identified as a factor that may exacerbate poor sleep quality. The auricular acupressure intervention was found effective in improving sleep quality. This study provided significant evidence in favor of the efficacy of employing auricular acupressure to the improvement of sleep quality in nurses.
Background: Nurses have generally poor sleep quality due to inadequate rest. Such may impact negatively on physical and mental health as well as social interactions and work performance. Purpose: This study was designed to explore the effects of auricular acupressure on sleep quality in nurses. Methods: This study, which used a quasi-experimental design, targeted nurses working at a medical center in central Taiwan who scored above 5 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). One hundred and six qualified participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Those in the experimental group received auricular acupressure for six weeks and those in the control group received no intervention. Main outcome indexes were measured using the PSQI and heart rate variability (HRV). Results: After six weeks of auricular acupressure intervention, the PSQI score of the experimental group had greater declined from 9.34 (pre-test) to 5.57 (post-test, a 40.4% reduction). The control group saw a smaller reduction of 14.6% (declining from 9.15 pre-test to 7.81 post-test, p<.001). Differences between experimental and control group HRV data were statistically insignificant. Conclusions/Implications for practice: Shift work was identified as a factor that may exacerbate poor sleep quality. The auricular acupressure intervention was found effective in improving sleep quality. This study provided significant evidence in favor of the efficacy of employing auricular acupressure to the improvement of sleep quality in nurses.
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