Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
BMJ open
Volume
12
Issue
4
First Page
e057106
PubMed ID
35487736
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences / School of Nursing and Midwifery / School of Science / Centre for Research in Aged Care
RAS ID
44378
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Australian nurses have experienced higher levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prepandemic. This may have affected their long-term mental health and intention to stay in the profession resulting in a workforce shortage, which further impacts the health of the public. Management is urgently required to improve nurses' well-being. However, there is limited evidence available. The proposed clinical trial aims to evaluate the feasibility and therapeutic effects of using a combination of light acupuncture and five-element music therapy to improve nurses' mental health and well-being during and post-COVID-19. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This randomised, single blinding, two-arm cross-over feasibility study involves a 1-week run-in period, 2-week intervention and 1-week run-in period in between interventions. Thirty-six eligible nurses will be recruited from the community and randomised into either a combination of light acupuncture treatment and five-element music therapy group or no treatment group for 2 weeks. After a 1-week run in period, they will be swapped to the different group. The primary outcome of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a combination of light acupuncture treatment and five-element music therapy to improve nurses' mental health and well-being. The secondary outcomes will include anxiety and depression, work productivity and activity, and quality of life assessments. Participants will be asked to complete a set of online questionnaires throughout the trial period. All analyses will be performed in R Studio V.1.1.463. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was attained from Edith Cowan University's Human Research Ethics Committee (No. 2021-02728-WANG). Research findings will be shared with hospitals and in various forms to engage broader audiences, including national and international conferences, presentations, open-access peer-reviewed journal publications, and local community workshop dissemination with healthcare professionals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12621000957897p https://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12621000957897p.aspx.
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057106
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Wang, C. C., Lo, J., Saunders, R., Adama, E., Bulsara, C., Etherton-Beer, C., & Yang, A. W. H. (2022). Light acupuncture and five-element music therapy for nurses’ mental health and well-being during and post-COVID-19: protocol for a randomised cross-over feasibility study. BMJ open, 12(4), e057106. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057106