[[alternative]]The Soothing Effects of Horticultural Therapy on Work Stress of Nurses

[[abstract]] 背景及目的：護理人員為醫院中照護病患第一線工作人員，是一種高壓力性的專業工作，長期的工作壓力會影響護理人員生理及心理健康及工作表現，甚至影響醫療照護品質。園藝治療以植物為媒介，利用植物與景觀元素所組成的環境，作為刺激身體五種感官(觸覺、味覺、聽覺、視覺、嗅覺）的工具，可舒緩身心壓力進而達到身心靈的健康，藉此希望利用園藝治療來改善護理人員工作壓力，達到舒緩緊張的情緒。本研究目的為園藝治療對於改善護理人員工作壓力之成效探討。 材料及方法：本研究為類實驗設計，收案對象為南部某區域教學醫院臨床護理人員，採立意取樣，收案時間為民國101年8月1日至民國101年12月31日。研究工具包含 (1)個人基本資料表(2)勞工職業壓力量表(3)園藝治療效益福祉量表。園藝治療每週執行一次，每次活動時間為60分鐘，共計四週。於園藝活動介入前進行前測，在四週園藝治療結束後完成後測，並於活動結束後一個月進行追蹤調查。數據資料以SPSS 18.0 統計軟體進行統計分析。 結果：研究結果發現，在經過四週的園藝治療後，受試者之工作壓力反應與一般健康均有顯著的改善。且園藝治療福祉效益量表中「我覺得心情放鬆」、「我具有成就感」、「我了解園藝栽培技術」、「我的肢體運動夠強」、「我有興趣嗜好」以及「我有良好的社交技巧」六項在四週園藝治療後有顯著性的差異。[[abstract]] Background and Purpose: Nurses are the first-line personnel in caring patients in a hospital. It is a very stressful profession. Long-term work stress can affect physiological and psychological health, working performance, and even health care quality. Horticultural activities use plants as a medium, to stimulate the five senses of the human body (touch, taste, hearing, vision and smell), and to ease the stress of the body and mind to achieve physical, psychological and spiritual health. Horticultural activities could be used to improve the work and emotional stresses of nurses. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of horticultural therapy on improving work stress of nurses. Materials and Methods: Our study was a quasi-experimental design, in which clinical nurses from a regional teaching hospital in southern Taiwan were recruited. Twenty subjects, which were sampled purposively during the period between August 1st, 2012 and December 31st, 2012. The tools of this study included: 1. A personal information sheet, 2. A Labor Occupational Stress Scale, 3. A Gardening Well-being Scale. Horticultural activities were carried out once a week, 60 minutes each time for four weeks. A pretest was performed before the interventional activities, and a posttest was conducted after the four-week activity. Follow-ups on the subjects were done one month later. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 18.0 statistical software. Results: The results of our study revealed significant improvement in the response to stress and general health of our test subjects after four weeks of horticultural activities. Results from the gardening Well-being Scale showed significant differences in the sections of “I feel relaxed.”, “I acquire sense of achievement.” “I understand the gardening techniques.”, “My physical activities are strong enough.”, “I have hobby.” and “I have good social skills.” after the four-week horticultural therapy