Reducing Anxiety and Improving Engagement in Health Care Providers Through an Auricular Acupuncture Intervention

Teresa M Buchanan¹, Patricia M Reilly, Carol Vafides, Patricia Dykes

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Affiliation

¹ Teresa M. Buchanan, MBA, RN, has held a variety of educational, managerial, and leadership positions, with a particular focus on program development and project management in health care settings. She has most recently supported the Nursing Integrative Care/Caring and Healing Modalities Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, as a project manager and certified HeartMath trainer. Patricia M. Reilly, MSN, RN, was most recently the director of Nursing Integrative Care/Caring and Healing Modalities at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. She has held a variety of leadership positions in critical care and perioperative nursing. Her current interests lie in developing a caring healing environment for both patients and health care providers. She is certified in advanced hypnotherapy and therapeutic touch and is a Reiki master and certified HeartMath trainer. Carol Vafides, MAc, Lic Ac, has a master's degree in acupuncture from the New England School of Acupuncture. She is a per-diem acupuncturist in the Nursing Integrative Care/Caring and Healing Modalities Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Her treatment focus has been to care for staff using a community style acupuncture to help mitigate stress. She developed and has been teaching Acupressure level 1 and level 2 classes for nurses. Classes were designed to help manage patient symptoms and for self-care. She has been in private practice since 1994. Patricia Dykes, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN, FACMI, is a senior nurse scientist and program director for research in the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice and the Center for Nursing Excellence at Brigham and Women's Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr Dykes is the author of 2 books and more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and has presented her work nationally and internationally. She is a member of the National Institutes of Health Biomedical Computing and Health Informatics Study Section, Center for Scientific Review, and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the American College of Medical Informatics.

PMID: 29381504
DOI: 10.1097/DCC.0000000000000288

Reducing Anxiety and Improving Engagement in Health Care Providers Through an Auricular Acupuncture Intervention

Teresa M Buchanan et al. Dimens Crit Care Nurs. 2018 Mar/Apr.

. 2018 Mar/Apr;37(2):87-96.

doi: 10.1097/DCC.0000000000000288.

Authors

Teresa M Buchanan¹, Patricia M Reilly, Carol Vafides, Patricia Dykes

Affiliation

¹ Teresa M. Buchanan, MBA, RN, has held a variety of educational, managerial, and leadership positions, with a particular focus on program development and project management in health care settings. She has most recently supported the Nursing Integrative Care/Caring and Healing Modalities Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, as a project manager and certified HeartMath trainer. Patricia M. Reilly, MSN, RN, was most recently the director of Nursing Integrative Care/Caring and Healing Modalities at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. She has held a variety of leadership positions in critical care and perioperative nursing. Her current interests lie in developing a caring healing environment for both patients and health care providers. She is certified in advanced hypnotherapy and therapeutic touch and is a Reiki master and certified HeartMath trainer. Carol Vafides, MAc, Lic Ac, has a master's degree in acupuncture from the New England School of Acupuncture. She is a per-diem acupuncturist in the Nursing Integrative Care/Caring and Healing Modalities Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Her treatment focus has been to care for staff using a community style acupuncture to help mitigate stress. She developed and has been teaching Acupressure level 1 and level 2 classes for nurses. Classes were designed to help manage patient symptoms and for self-care. She has been in private practice since 1994. Patricia Dykes, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN, FACMI, is a senior nurse scientist and program director for research in the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice and the Center for Nursing Excellence at Brigham and Women's Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr Dykes is the author of 2 books and more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and has presented her work nationally and internationally. She is a member of the National Institutes of Health Biomedical Computing and Health Informatics Study Section, Center for Scientific Review, and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the American College of Medical Informatics.

PMID: 29381504
DOI: 10.1097/DCC.0000000000000288

Abstract

Background: Stress and anxiety are experienced by health care providers as a consequence of caregiving and may result in physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes that negatively impact work engagement.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine whether auricular acupuncture can reduce provider anxiety and improve work engagement.

Methods: Study participants received 5 auricular acupuncture sessions within a 16-week period utilizing the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association protocol for treating emotional trauma. Each participant completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) prior to their first session and again after their fifth treatment.

Results: Significant reductions were found in state and trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), as well as significant increases in the overall scores on the UWES as compared with baseline. Only the dedication subcategory of the UWES showed significant improvement.

Conclusions: Engagement has been linked to increased productivity and well-being and improved patient and organizational outcomes. Providing effective strategies such as auricular acupuncture to support health care providers in reducing anxiety in the workplace may improve engagement.

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Reducing Anxiety and Improving Engagement in Health Care Providers Through an Auricular Acupuncture Intervention

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Reducing Anxiety and Improving Engagement in Health Care Providers Through an Auricular Acupuncture Intervention

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