Effectiveness of Slow Back Massage on Quality of Sleep among ICU Patent’s

Touch therapy for human being is a wonderful and therapeutic gift in this era of continuous stress, tension and sickness. Massage is an art of touch with bare hands. It is considered as an important therapy in Indian system of Medicine for pain, muscle pull and some of the orthopaedic conditions and especially in palliative care. Considering the importance of touch in nursing and incorporating cheap and acceptable complementary therapies is essential for broadening the scope of nursing.Aim: To assess the effectiveness of slow stroke back massage on quality of sleep among patients admitted in ICU. Material and Methods: A study was conducted using non-equivalent pre-test post-test control group design in the year 2011 -12. .60 samples, between age group of 25 to 70 years were selected and divided into two groups, control group and experimental group. The quality of sleep of all the samples was assessed by Modified Groninger’s sleep quality assessment scale and recorded with checklist. After routine night nursing care, the intervention was done for 10 to 12 minutes on experimental group and the control group was not given massage. This was done for three consecutive nights and every morning quality of sleep of all the samples was assessed and recorded. Findings: The majority of the samples were exposure to massage therapy. However due to sickness and environment in ICU they were not able enjoy quality sleep. The massage therapy was helpful in inducing sleep and improving the quality of sleep. CONCLUSION: There were significant differences on the quality of sleep before and after slow stroke back massage. This shows that there was gradual improvement in the sleep quality after back massage on 3 consecutive days. the back massage has effect on quality of sleep among ICU patients.