Occupational Stress or Workplace Stress

This pilot study investigates the acceptability and effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) body acupuncture on stress and exhaustion among healthcare professionals working in an acute care hospital. Participants will receive acupuncture twice a week for four weeks, with a total of eight treatment sessions. Stress, burnout, sleep quality, and general wellbeing will be assessed before and after the intervention and at follow-up. The study will also assess participants' satisfaction with the intervention and their willingness to participate again or recommend acupuncture to others. In addition, the feasibility of conducting the study will be evaluated, including recruitment, adherence to the treatment schedule, organizational feasibility, and completeness and quality of the collected data. The findings will help determine whether a larger clinical study of TCM body acupuncture in healthcare professionals is feasible and warranted.

Hospital staff often experience workplace fatigue and poor sleep quality, which can harm their health, reduce job performance, and increase risks to patient safety. Aromatherapy is a simple, non-invasive complementary therapy that may help reduce fatigue and improve sleep. Agarwood (Aquilaria spp.) has calming and relaxing properties, but there is little clinical research on its effectiveness for hospital staff. This randomized, double-blind, controlled trial will evaluate whether agarwood aromatherapy inhalation can improve fatigue and sleep quality among hospital employees in Taiwan. About 78 participants will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of two groups: 1. Experimental group: Agarwood sachet containing agarwood wood chips and essential oil. 2. Control group: Placebo sachet containing almond oil. Participants will place the sachet about 60 cm from the nose during sleep for 7 nights. Data will be collected using questionnaires on workplace fatigue and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI). The main questions this study aims to answer are: 1. Does agarwood aromatherapy reduce workplace fatigue in hospital staff? 2. Does agarwood aromatherapy improve sleep quality compared with placebo? Findings are expected to provide scientific evidence for using agarwood inhalation as a safe and convenient strategy to improve staff well-being and support a healthier hospital environment.