Measuring the Effect of Chair Massage on Stress Related Symptoms for Nurses

Mayo Clinic

Status

Completed

Conditions

Tension

Anxiety

Fatigue

Stress

Treatments

Procedure: Chair massage

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT01504763

08-004874

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and effect of chair massage provided during working hours for nurses in an inpatient psychiatric and an outpatient pain rehabilitation unit and on the nurses stress related symptoms.

Full description

Nursing staff working in a hospital in-patient psychiatric unit and out-patient pain rehabilitation/ fibromyalgia units each have varying causes of stress as both are intensely demanding environments. The physical and psychosocial demands of these stress-loaded work environments place a significant amount of strain on the physiological well-being of the employee.

Nurses in these settings are considered healthy employees and able to participate in the workforce, although symptoms such as headaches, shoulder tension, insomnia, fatigue, and muscle and joint pain are often a part of their work day. As these stress related symptoms become more chronic, they lead to days missed and become pre-cursors to physiological illnesses so warrant further search for prevention tactics.

Massage therapy has been noted to decrease levels of anxiety and fatigue which is essential to maintaining employee's efficient care in a dynamic environment. This study will provide massage in the workplace utilizing chair massage as it is easy to set up, does not need a great deal of space, and can be provided in semi-private areas, as the participant remains clothed. A 2006 report on a small study indicated chair massage can be effective in reducing stress perception in nurses within a hospital setting, at least in the short-term. Another study reported some short-term positive effects on stress related symptoms; and came to the conclusion that further studies are indicated to examine the efficacy of workplace-based massage therapy programs.

Enrollment

40 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 65 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Men and women age 18-65 able to give informed consent
Able to speak and understand English
Minimum of 8-hour per day shift schedule with .75 - 1.0 FTE.
Need to be able to schedule one massage per week in the available massage schedule time slots.

Exclusion criteria