The Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique on Anxiety Levels of Nurses Caring for COVID19 Patients

NCT05758636 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: MrmrU
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

It is very important to protect and improve the physical, mental and social health of nurses, especially in the event that nurses frequently encounter patients diagnosed or suspected of COVID-19 and are exposed to the virus for a long time due to the long duration of care, increasing cases and the death of their colleagues. Que et al., 2020). Current researches have made it necessary for nurses to have difficulties in effectively coping with the anxiety experienced in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the whole world, and to apply new effective methods, as their training includes effective coping methods (Feinstein and Church, 2010). There are studies that are effective in reducing stress and anxiety, such as meditation, yoga, and breathing therapies, which are recommended to prevent the increase in stress and anxiety levels that may occur in nurses by evaluating the experienced situations (Labrague et al., 2020; Vieta et al., 2020). In addition to these applications, it is seen that Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) has been increasingly used recently in controlling and reducing anxiety (Hartmann, 2016). EFT is a type of energy-based psychotherapy that combines the components of Western psychology and Eastern medicine, applied to eliminate negative thoughts and feelings and problems related to emotions (İnangil et al., 2020; Church, 2013). Although the EFT technique is used in many different areas today, its effect on the level of anxiety in nurses during the COVID-19 process is not yet known. As a result, to evaluate the effect of EFT, whose positive results have been proven by many studies, on the anxiety level of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients.

Conditions

EFTs; Nursing Caries; Anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Spielberger state-trait anxiety scale

  While the Trait Anxiety Inventory aims to determine how the individual feels independently of the situation and conditions, the State Anxiety Inventory aims to determine how the individual feels at a certain moment and under certain conditions. Both subscales are four-point Likert-type scales consisting of twenty items. In the State Anxiety Inventory, the individual is asked to evaluate how he or she feels at the moment, according to the situation he is in, and to choose one of the expressions "1-not at all, 2-somewhat, 3-a lot and 4-completely" according to the severity of the emotions or behaviors expressed in the items. The highest score of 4 is given for choosing the phrase "completely", and the lowest score is 1 for choosing the phrase "not at all".

  4 months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• SUE (Subjective Units of Experience) Scale

  4 months

Study Arms (2)

Emotional Freedom Technique Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Nurses (40) enrolled in the emotional freedom technique group will receive a total of 4 rounds of EFT, 50 minutes, 3 days a week.

Behavioral: Emotional Freedom Technique

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in the control group (n= 40) will not receive intervention throughout the study.

Interventions

Emotional Freedom Technique BEHAVIORAL

Before starting the EFT session, the participants were asked to identify the problem that aroused their anxiety. After the common point of the problems was determined, the ORDS level of all participants was determined. Next, the EFT session explained traditional acupressure meridian points on the head, face, neck, chest, and hands. Next, they were asked to repeat the phrase, "Even though I have this feeling of stress and anxiety, I accept myself deeply and completely," while gently applying to the acupuncture points with their index and middle fingers. While using this expression, the participants hit each acupuncture area seven times. After the first round of hits accompanied by this phrase, participants were asked to abbreviate "this feeling of anxiety, stress" with another short phrase. The participants then repeated rounds of this process until they noticed that their anxiety had decreased

Emotional Freedom Technique Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• not having been diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis,
• not having received any therapy including coping with stress
• not being diagnosed with COVID-19
• not being in the treatment care process
• not having applied the emotional freedom technique before, and volunteering to participate

You may not qualify if:

• Not participating in any of the emotional freedom technique sessions
• Being diagnosed with COVID-19 during the application of therapy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Marmara University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Marmara University

Istanbul, Kadikoy, 34722, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Şule Ecevit Alpar, Phd

  Marmara University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Phd Candidate

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2023
• First Posted: March 7, 2023
• Study Start: March 2, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 25, 2022
• Study Completion: June 1, 2023
• Last Updated: March 7, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)