Effects of Emotional Freedom Technique in Reducing Stress and Enhancing Well-Being/Self-Esteem Among Nurses Working in Tertiary Care Hospital Lahore

Abstract

Background: The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), commonly known as "tapping," is a therapeutic approach that blends aspects of cognitive and exposure therapies with acupressure. It involves gently tapping on specific meridian points on the body while concentrating on a negative emotion, memory, or concern. The technique is founded on the idea that imbalances in the body's energy system can cause emotional and physical issues, and by tapping on these points, one can restore balance and alleviate discomfort. Unfortunately, in clinical settings most of nurse’s have high level of stress and low-self-esteem due to long working hours, hectic routine and increased workload. So, there is a dire need to adopt EFT, to alleviate stress and boost self-esteem.
Objective: To assess effects of Emotional Freedom Technique in reducing stress and enhancing self-esteem among Nurses working in tertiary care hospital Lahore.
Methodology: A quasi experimental study included 59 registered nurses selected by a universal sampling technique. A ten weeks’ educational intervention consists of PowerPoint lectures, audio visual demonstration (AVD) and hands on practice sessions, which was prepared from third edition of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) manual, were given by researcher to registered nurses on how to tackle stress and enhanced self-esteem. Data on nurses’ scores of stress and self-esteem were collected two times before and after the intervention via validated questionnaires.
Results: The study showed a significant (P<0.001) improvement in reducing stress and enhancing self-esteem among nurses after education. Results revealed that stress level was reduced significantly as P-value=0.000. The mean value of stress before educational intervention was 21.49 and after educational intervention it was 18.13. Results revealed that self-esteem was improved significantly as P-value=0.005. The mean value of self-esteem before educational intervention was 23.01 and after educational intervention it was 24.45.
Conclusion: emotional freedom technique (EFT) significantly reduce stress and improved self-esteem among nurses working in critical care areas of tertiary care hospital.