Aromatherapy Application in Nursing Care: Systematic Analysis of Studies Conducted Over the Past Decade in Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Aromatherapy offers energy, treatment, and the balancing of body, mind, and soul byboth scientific and artistic approaches. It is a non-pharmacological method that releases the healing power of essentialoils obtained from herbal resources for improving a person mentally, physically and spiritually and alsoprovides homeostasis. Aromatherapy has been used for 4,000 years as an integrative and complementary carepractice. The purpose of this literature review is to analyze the studies of aromatherapy conducted in Turkey. Inparticular, regarding the type of research, investigators characteristics, sampling, subjects, and conclusions of thestudies. Material and Methods: Theses and studies about aromatherapy conducted by nurses between the yearsof 2007–2017 are included in this study. The data from the theses were obtained from the ‘Turkey National ThesisDatabase’ and the databases of medicine and nursing (ScienceDirect, Pubmed, and Ulakbim). The researchsample comprises 35 studies conducted in Turkey between the years of 2007-2017. Results: There were 35 studiesabout aromatherapy conducted in Turkey between 2007 and 2017. Of these, 77.1% (n=27) were postgraduateand doctoral theses. In this survey, 25.7% (n=9) are postgraduate theses, 51.4% (n=18) are doctoral theses, and22.8% are research papers. Aromatherapy is mostly researched in doctoral theses in Turkey. Conclusion: It wasobserved that pregnant women, the elderly, and patients with osteoarthritis, dementia, and cancer are most analyzedin studies conducted about the application of aromatherapy. In these studies, aromatherapy was used forpain control, relieving constipation, managing symptoms such as tiredness and anxiety, and increasing the qualityof life. It is thought that aromatherapy has a positive effect on physiological and psychological well-being. Easeof use, efficiency and affordability are factors that increase the use of aromatherapy. To continue in this direction,nurses need to apply therapies that have multi-dimensional benefits, such as aromatherapy, correctly andeffectively by learning from experienced professionals and attach these applications to nursing care by analyzingevidence-based surveys in the relevant areas.