The Effect of Hand Massage on Pain, Anxiety, and Comfort Levels of Intensive Care Patients

The Effect of Hand Massage on Pain, Anxiety, and Comfort Levels of Intensive Care Patients

This study titled "Evaluation of the Effect of Hand Massage on Patients' Pain, Anxiety and Comfort Levels" aims to determine the effect of hand massage on patients in intensive care units. Our study is single-center and will continue until May 30, 2023. The study is designed to create an experimental and control group. Your patient is in the control group of the study. During the application period of the study, patients in the control group will be provided with routine nursing care and no additional nursing intervention will be applied. Patients in the intervention group of the study will be applied a total of 12 sessions of hand massage, 6 sessions per week (15 minutes each session).

The study sample consisted of patients who were receiving treatment at the Neurology Intensive Care Unit of Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital between April and May 2023, who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the study. The patients were divided into an intervention group (n=32) that received 15-minute hand massage and a control group (n=32) that received routine nursing care. The Sociodemographic Data Form, Visual Pain Scale (VAS), General Comfort Scale-Short Form and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to collect data. Inclusion Criteria

• Being 18 years of age or older
• Agreeing to participate in the study and having written permission
• Not having any cognitive, sensory or mental disorders
• Being able to speak and communicate in Turkish
• Being fully oriented to place, time and person
• Individuals to be included should not have conditions such as masses, loss of sensation, fractures or ingrown toenails in their hands

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients who do not agree to participate in the study
• Patients who want to leave the study during the research process will not be included.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals aged 18 years and over who agreed to participate in the study
• whose written consent was obtained
• who had no communication problems (hearing, vision, speech, and perception) were included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who did not agree to participate in the study, who had conditions such as mass in the hand area, sensory loss, previous surgical operation, allergy or skin disease, fracture, and ingrown nail, and who could not complete 12 sessions were excluded.