ABSTRACT
Background: Sleep disorders and compassion fatigues are two main physical and psychological problems among nurses, particularly during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of acupressure on sleep quality and compassion fatigue among emergency and critical care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2020. Participants were eighty nurses recruited from two hospitals in Iran and randomly allocated to control and intervention groups. Acupressure on the Shenmen point was self-administered by participants twice daily for 30 days. The Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and the Nurses' Compassion Fatigue Inventory were used for data collection before and after the intervention. Data analysis was done using the paired-sample t, independent-sample t, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney U tests as well as the analysis of covariance. Results: The mean score of the subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, and sleeping medication dimensions of sleep quality significantly decreased in the intervention group (P < 0.05). Moreover, despite no significant between-group difference respecting the pretest mean scores of sleep quality and its dimensions (P > 0.05), the posttest mean scores of sleep quality and its subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep disturbances, and sleeping medication dimensions in the intervention group were significantly less than the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: As a noninvasive technique, acupressure can be used to significantly improve sleep quality among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Background: Promoting self-efficacy behaviors in self-care and people's true understanding of these behaviors are effective in controlling the disease, reducing the rate of transmission, and empowering patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of telephone counseling on self-efficacy in self-care behaviors of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: This experimental study was conducted on patients with COVID-19 who had been referred to Shahid Beheshti hospital in Kashan, Iran, from May 2020 to August 2020. Eligible patients were recruited through convenience sampling and then allocated into an experimental (n=30) and a control (n=30) group using block randomization. In the experimental group, patients were trained through telephone counseling one, five, and 10 days after discharge. The control group received the usual training in the hospital. Data were gathered using a self-care questionnaire at different time intervals. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS software (version 11.5) using the Chi-square, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and t-test. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The mean score of self-care at time of discharge and two and four weeks later were 47.86±6.84, 62.23±5.24 and 78.46±3.38, respectively. There was a significant difference in self-efficacy scores between the study groups at time of discharge (P=0.29). In addition, there was a significant difference in self-efficacy scores two weeks (P=0.01) and four weeks (P=0.001) after discharge from the hospital. The self-efficacy score in the experimental group increased significantly over time. Furthermore, group and time had significant effects on the self-efficacy score (P<0.05) two weeks (P=0.01) and four weeks (P=0.001) after discharge from the hospital between two groups. Conclusion: Telenursing could improve COVID-19 patients' self-efficacy in self-care. Therefore, it is recommended to use telenursing in the treatment protocol of COVID-19 patients for improving self-care. © The author.