Effects of lavender essential oil inhalation on nurse's job stress

Nurses are confronted continuously with pain, suffering, injuries, deaths and experience high job stress in their workplace. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lavender oil inhalation on nurse's job stress.
In this clinical trial study, 78 nurses who working in social security hospitals in 2015 were selected by convenience method.In this way, nurses were selected with randomized block in two groups, lavender and control. Participants were used lavender or sesame oil for two hours in the early hours of shifts and during four weeks. Job stress were determined and compared in both groups before the intervention, as well as the second and fourth weeks by 34 Gry- Taft Anderson job stress questionnaire. Data were analyzed and compared by descriptive- analytical statistics.
The mean of nurse's job stress had 87.09 ± 17.41 job stress and had no significant difference in both groups at the end of the second week of aromatherapy (P=0.304), but this difference was significant at the end of the fourth week (P=0.003).The results showed that after four weeks using lavender essential oil with a mean of 8.89 ± 2.38 than to the first stage, it has been effective in reducing job stress (P=0.002). Aromatherapy had no effect in the control group (P The use of lavender for more than two weeks can be effective in reducing job stress.Therefore, the use of scent as a useful method, recommended in nursing environments.