Psychosomatic effects of blanketing in nursing care

Aim Blanketing, which involves covering patients with a blanket in order to maintain their body temperature and privacy and help alleviate the stress that is associated with medical procedures, is a fundamental skill in nursing care. However, the actual therapeutic effects of blanketing have not been adequately investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to clarify the psychosomatic effects of blanketing in nursing care by observing autonomic nervous activity. Methods This single‐cohort, intra‐participant, comparative cross‐over study included 30 healthy female adolescents. Two of the 30 participants were excluded from the analysis. After splitting the participants into blanketing and non‐blanketing groups, the stress and anxiety that patients undergo during nursing care was simulated and the responses were analyzed by using psychological and physiological indicators. The parametric data were analyzed by using a paired t‐test or one‐way ANOVA and the non‐parametric data were analyzed by using the Wilcoxon signed‐rank test. The significance level was