The effectiveness of foot massage on relief of the foot pain among staff nurses working in emergency unit

Abstract

Foot pain is the most common health problem among staff nurses working in the emergency units. An experimental study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of foot massage on relief of foot pain among staff nurses working in emergency unit. The objective of the study was to assess the pretest and post test pain scores after administration of foot massage.

Method: The study was conducted at BLDEA’S Hospital Vijayapur. The design selected for the study was one group pre test and post test, true experimental design. Random sampling technique was used and sample consisted of 40 staff nurses. The foot massage was administered to those who completed selection criteria. The assessment of severity of pain was done by numerical pain rating scale.

Results: Mean pretest pain score was 3.9 and mean post test pain score was 1.15 which was significant at P-0.05 level. Findings of the study indicate that the foot massage has an effect on relief of foot pain among staff nurses. There was significant association between selected demographical variable such as age and educational status. There was no significant association between foot massage and gender, ward, working hour and previous experience of foot massage.

Conclusion: The long standing working hours for the staff nurses in emergency unit makes them to suffer from foot pain during duty hour. Foot massage is greatly required to reduce foot pain and improves their performance at work place. The study was concluded with further recommendations.