Effect of Acupressure on Senior Nursing Students' Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: The transition to distance learning in nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic, where clinical practice is critical, may have caused senior nursing students to experience a sense of graduating without sufficient skills and experience anxiety in addition to the anxiety caused by the pandemic. Non-pharmacological methods such as acupressure may be helpful in reducing students' anxiety. Aim: This study was conducted to determine the effect of acupressure on senior nursing students' anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This prospective, two-armed (1:1), randomized controlled study included fifty-two senior nursing students at a university nursing department. While the experimental group (n=26) applied acupressure to the LI4, HT7, and EX-HN3 points three times a week for four weeks, acupressure was not applied to the control group (n=26). Data were collected at baseline and at the end of four weeks using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results: At the end of four weeks, there was no significant difference between the STAI-State and STAI-Trait scores of the experimental and control groups (p>0.05). The STAI-State score of the experimental group decreased significantly in the fourth week compared to the baseline (p