The Effect of Aromatherapy Massage on Pain, Anxiety and Comfort

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) experience physical and psychological discomfort, including pain. Anxiety is a condition frequently encountered in the ICU. The hospital environment, especially the ICU, is reported as a significant cause of anxiety for patients. Comfort is a holistic, subjective and multidimensional concept that is affected by physical, environmental, social and psycho-spiritual contexts and changes over time and space. Comfort in intensive care is often associated with pain relief and end-of-life care. Assessment tools have been developed to measure patient comfort in the ICU, including levels of pain, delirium, and sedation. This work; Patients who are monitored in intensive care under high-flow and oxygen are treated with a mixture of lavender, thyme and eucalyptus oil (20 ml; lavender oil 5 drops, thyme oil 4 drops, eucalyptus oil 3 drops and 20 ml almond oil) twice a day for three days. This study was conducted to determine the effect of aromatherapy massage applied for a total of 30 minutes on some physiological parameters, pain, anxiety and intensive care comfort of the patients.