Effects of Self-foot Reflexology on Fatigue and Sleep States in Women Nurses

Ko, Young Sook; Park, Mi Kyung

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of Self-foot reflexology(SFR) on fatigue and sleep states in clinical women nurses. METHOD: This study was a nonequivalent pretest-posttest quasi-experimental. Women nurses were assigned to an experimental group (EG, n=20) or a control group (CG, n=20). The EG participated in SFR for a total of 40 minutes, 2 times per week during 4 weeks on their Rt & Lt feet. The CG did not receive SFR during the research period. The EG & CG had never before received SFR, and they had no open wounds or fractures. Data was analyzed using the chi-square-test, and t-test by the SPSS version 12.0 program at a 5% significant level.
RESULTS
The score of fatigue in the EG was significantly lower than that of the CG and the score of sleep states in the EG was also significantly higher than that of the CG.
CONCLUSION
The findings show that the score of fatigue decreased and sleep states increased in the study. Therefore, we should consider SFR as an intervention on clinical nurses. However, it is still needed to verify its effects through more intensive study.