In this study, 68 nurses working in internal clinics were randomly assigned to acupressure and placebo (sham) acupressure groups. In the acupressure group (n=34), the heart meridian 7th point (HT7), large intestine meridian 4th point (LI4), stomach meridian 36th point (ST36) and spleen meridian 6th point (SP6) will be applied to a total of four points. Depending on the preparation and compression time on each point, the session duration of each nurse will be 20 minutes on average. In the sham group (n=34), pressure will be made approximately 1-1.5 cm away from the HT7, LI4, ST36, SP6 points. In the Sham group, the acupressure application time will take 20 minutes on average. Reminder text messages (SMS) will be sent before the application on the days when the nurses will practice, so that they continue to do the application regularly. At the end of the application, after the data collection process is completed, the sham group will be taught the correct acupressure points. Nurses will apply acupressure three times a week for a total of 12 sessions for four weeks. The primary outcome of the research is the effect of acupressure on the sleep quality of nurses. The secondary outcome of the study is to determine the effect of acupressure on fatigue. The outcomes will be collected before and four weeks after the acupressure and sham acupressure administration.
This research aims to determine the effect of acupressure applied to nurses actively working in internal clinics on sleep quality and fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic process. This research hypothesizes that acupressure improves sleep quality and reduces fatigue.