Evaluating the impact of lavender aromatherapy and music therapy on reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in female nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: Nurses often experience high levels of physical and psychological stress due to frequent exposure to emergency and critical situations, which can adversely affect their professional performance. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the short- and long-term impacts of combining aromatherapy with music therapy versus using aromatherapy alone on the physical and psychological well-being of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This study employed a quasi-experimental design without non-intervention control group and recruited 60 nurses from a regional teaching hospital in central Taiwan between February and November 2023. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: one group received aromatherapy, and the other group received a combination of aromatherapy and music therapy. The aromatherapy intervention involved inhaling gas infused with lavender essential oil. The intervention was conducted once a week during the lunch break for 20 min over a six-week period. Physiological and psychological indicators were compared before and after the intervention. Physiological indicators included systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and pulse rate (PR). Psychological indicators included scores on the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which measured stress, anxiety, and depression, respectively. Results: Overall, after each aromatherapy intervention, the physiological and psychological measures of the nurses in both groups showed significant reductions (p < 0.05) based on paired t-tests. After six measurements, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted, revealing that most physiological and psychological measures of the nurses in the aromatherapy-only group were significantly reduced (p < 0.05), although no significant differences were found for diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate. In the group receiving aromatherapy combined with music therapy, all physiological and psychological measures showed significant reductions in repeated measures tests (p < 0.05). These results suggest that aromatherapy combined with music therapy not only improved physical and psychological symptoms immediately but also had lasting effects for at least six weeks. Conclusions: This study found that aromatherapy effectively reduced the physical and psychological stress of nurses, with even greater benefits when combined with music therapy. This approach not only provided immediate effects but also were associated with lasting benefits for an extended duration.