02/09/2018
RESEARCH PREVIEW
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🙋🏽♀️Raise your hand if you love aromatherapy!
🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♀️Better yet, if you would love to see it implemented as a complimentary/alternative therapy offered by nurses to hospital patients?
👆🏼That’s exactly what the folks in the research article did and they share the why and how they did it so that you too can get inspired to do the same in your clinical setting.
🌱According to the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (as cited in Conlon et al., 2016, p. 389), aromatherapy is “the art & science of using naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize, & promote the health of body, mind, & soul.”
🌱And most importantly, these essential oils (EOs) are only considered pure, true essential oils when extracted by distillation with steam and/or water and not with chemicals (Conlon et al., 2016).
🌱Clinical aromatherapy is a growing evidence based minimally invasive integrative approach to whole person healing such as providing relief from common symptoms of pain, nausea, anxiety, & sleeplessness (Conlon et al., 2016).
🌱Nurses are perfectly positioned to offer aromatherapy as an independent first line or complimentary nursing intervention at the bedside, in line with the holistic nursing principle of moving along the intervention spectrum from less to more invasive interventions (Conlon et al., 2016).
🌱However, according to Tisserand & Young (as cited in Conlon et al., 2016), standard administration, safety, & quality control remain a major concern re: clinical applications of EOs.
📋With these points in mind, Conlon et al. (2016) conducted a 6 month pilot study in a pediatric: general, intensive care, & ambulatory unit to introduce EOs at the bedside.
📋73 of the 77 nurses who administered the EOs reported positive patient outcomes (Conlon et al., 2016).
📋As a result, a new nursing guideline & online education module was developed & now most inpatient and ambulatory areas in that medical institution offer EOs as an integrative modality (Conlon et al., 2016).
📋BUT HOW DID THEY DO IT? Stay tuned for the next post to find out!
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Conlon, P.M., Haack, K.M., Rodgers, N.J., Dion, L.J., Cambern, K.L., Rohlik, G.M., . . . Ayers, S.J. (2016). Introducing essential oils into pediatric and other practices at an academic medical center. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 35(4), 389-396.
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