Use of aromatherapy to promote a therapeutic nurse environment.

BACKGROUND: Workplace stress can affect nurse satisfaction. Aroma therapy as a therapeutic use of essential oil can be beneficial in reducing stress.

PURPOSE: Assess perceived stress pre-post introduction of Essential Oil Lavender among registered nurses, charge nurses, and patient care technicians in a trauma intensive care unit, surgical specialty care unit and an orthopedic trauma unit.

METHODS: Pre-post intervention with a quasi-experimental design. After a pre-survey, Essential Oil Lavender was diffused 24h per day over 30days in a designated nursing area that all nurses were not required to enter on each unit.

RESULTS: Dependent sample t-test for "how often do nurses feel stressed a work in a typical week" revealed pre-survey mean 2.97 (SD=0.99) which was significantly higher than post-survey mean 2.70 (SD=0.92) with significance, t(69)=2.36, p=0.021, suggesting a difference in how often staff felt stressed at work in a typical week, trending down from "feeling stressed half of time" to "once in a while". There were no statistically significant differences in pre-post survey scores for TICU, TOU, or SSC as separate units.

RELEVANCE: Use of essential oils to decrease work-related stress among nursing staff may improve retention, workplace environment, and increase nurse satisfaction.