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Nursing guidance on bed baths to reduce anxiety

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing guidance protocol to reduce the anxiety of patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing bed bath, and the correlation of vital signs with state-anxiety.

Method:

randomized clinical trial study. The sample consisted of 120 patients. The intervention group received a nursing guidance protocol about bed bath and the control group received the unit’s routine information. The STAI-State scale was used to assess anxiety, and data were collected at three times: immediately after informing the patients about the bed bath; immediately after interventions; and immediately after the bath.

Results:

the intervention group presented signifi cantly lower state-anxiety compared to the control group (p<0.001) after the intervention.

Conclusion:

the nursing orientation was effective to reduce anxiety in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing bed bath.

Key words:
Anxiety; Acute Coronary Syndrome; Baths; Nursing Care

RESUMO

Objetivo:

avaliar a efetividade de um protocolo de orientação de enfermagem para redução da ansiedade de pacientes com síndrome coronária aguda, submetidos ao banho no leito e a relação dos sinais vitais com a Ansiedade-Estado.

Método:

ensaio clínico randomizado. A amostra foi constituída por 120 pacientes. O grupo intervenção recebeu um protocolo de orientação de enfermagem sobre o banho no leito e o grupo controle as informações rotineiras da unidade. A ansiedade foi avaliada por meio do Inventário de Ansiedade-Estado em três momentos: imediatamente após informar ao paciente sobre a necessidade do banho no leito, imediatamente após as intervenções e imediatamente após o banho.

Resultados:

o grupo intervenção teve uma redução significativamente maior da ansiedade quando comparado ao grupo controle (p<0,001) após a intervenção.

Conclusão:

a orientação de enfermagem foi efetiva para reduzir a ansiedade dos pacientes com síndrome coronária aguda que se submetem ao banho no leito.

Descritores:
Ansiedade; Síndrome Coronariana Aguda; Banhos; Cuidados de Enfermagem

RESUMEN

Objetivo:

evaluar la efectividad de un protocolo de orientación de enfermería para reducción de la ansiedad de pacientes con síndrome coronario aguda, sometidos al baño en el lecho y la relación de las señales vitales con la Ansiedad-Estado.

Metodo:

ensayo clínico randomizado. La muestra estaba constituida por 120 pacientes. El grupo intervención recibió un protocolo de orientación de enfermería sobre el baño en el lecho y el grupo control, la información rutinaria de la unidad. La ansiedad se evaluó por medio del Inventario de Ansiedad-Estado en tres momentos: inmediatamente tras informar al paciente sobre la necesidad del baño en el lecho, inmediatamente tras las intervenciones e inmediatamente tras el baño.

Resultados:

el grupo intervención tuvo una reducción signifi cativamente mayor de la ansiedad cuando comparado al grupo control (p<0,001) tras la intervención.

Conclusión:

la orientación de enfermería fue efectiva para reducir la ansiedad de los pacientes con síndrome coronario agudo que se someten al baño en el lecho.

Palabras clave:
Ansiedad; Síndrome Coronario Agudo; Baños; Atención de Enfermería

INTRODUCTION

The practice of caring for patients with coronaropathies is a challenge for nursing. This disease has the characteristic of causing unexpected hospital admissions, bringing about many doubts and fears. In this regard, the nurse has an important role in guiding these individuals.

Nursing guidance makes it possible to minimize negative feelings presented by patients in reaction to new experiences, making them feel safer, which increases quality of life(1Guo P, East L, Arthur A. Thinking outside the black box: the importance of context in understanding the impact of a preoperative education nursing intervention among Chinese cardiac patients. Patient Educ Couns [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2015 Jan 07];95(3):365-70. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738399114000871
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...

Hanssen TA, Nordrehaug JEM, Eide GE, Hanestad BR. Does a telephone follow-up intervention for patients discharged with acute myocardial infarction have long-term effects on health-related quality of life? A randomized controlled trial. J Clin Nurs [Internet]. 2009 May [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(9):1334-45. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02654.x/epdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11...
-3Wong EM, Chan SW, Chair SY. Effectiveness of an educational intervention on levels of pain, anxiety and selfefficacy for patients with musculoskeletal trauma. J Adv Nurs [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];66(5):1120-31. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05273.x/epdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11...
). Communication generated by the nursing guidance enables the identification of meanings that the patient gives the disease and the hospital stay(4Pontes AC, Leitão IMTA, Ramos IC. [Therapeutic communication in Nursing: essential instrument of care]. Rev Bras Enferm [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];61(3):312-8. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v61n3/a06v61n3.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v61n3/a06...
). Lack of information and the unknown may generate many negative feelings, such as anxiety and depression(5Maruiti MR, Galdeano LE, Farah OGD. Anxiety and depression in relatives of patients admitted in intensive care units. Acta Paul Enferm [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];21(4):636-42. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v21n4/en_a16v21n4.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v21n4/en_a1...
-6Costa VAS, Silva SCF, Lima VCP. [The pre-surgery anxiety of the patient: the alliance between the nurse and psychologist]. Rev SBPGH [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];13(2):282-98. Available from: http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/rsbph/v13n2/v13n2a10.pdf Portuguese.
http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/rsbph/v13n...
). Some studies show a strong correlation between anxiety and depression(7Apóstolo JLA, Figueiredo MH, Mendes AC, Rodrigues MA. Depression, anxiety and stress in primary health care users. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2015 Jan 07];19(2):348-53. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v19n2/17.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v19n2/17.p...
-8Lemos C, Gottschall CAM, Pellanda LC, Müller M. [Association among depression, anxiety, and quality of life in post acute myocardial infarction patients]. Psicol Teor Pesqui [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];24(4):471-6. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ptp/v24n4/10.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ptp/v24n4/10.pd...
).

Anxiety is defined as a vague and uncomfortable feeling of unrest or fear, accompanied by an autonomic response; it is a feeling of apprehension caused by the anticipation of danger(9NANDA Internacional. Diagnósticos de Enfermagem da NANDA: definições e classificação 2012-2014. Porto Alegre: Artmed; 2013.). Anxiety disorders include disturbances that share characteristics of excessive fear, anxiety, and related behavioral disorders(1010 American Psychiatric Association. Manual diagnóstico e estatístico de transtornos mentais: DSM-V. 5. ed. Porto Alegre: Artmed; 2014.).

Currently, many instruments measure depression symptoms and the level of anxiety of patients. The most used are the Beck Depression Inventory(1111 Beck AT, Steer RA, Garbin MG. Psychometric properties of the beck depression inventory: twenty-five years of evaluation. Clin Psychol Rev. 1988;8(1):77-100.-1212 Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation, 1996.) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(1313 Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. Inventário de ansiedade traço-estado (IDATE). Rio de Janeiro: CEPA; 1979.), respectively. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory is composed of two different scales, the State-Anxiety Inventory and the Trait.

State-anxiety is the anxiety that the patient presents at the time of evaluation. It is seen as a transitory emotional state or condition of the human organism, presenting unpleasant feelings of tension and apprehension consciously perceived and accompanied by an increase in activity in the autonomic nervous system(1313 Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. Inventário de ansiedade traço-estado (IDATE). Rio de Janeiro: CEPA; 1979.). Trait-anxiety, on the other hand, is used to measure the anxiety that a person feels normally. This scale's scores are less sensitive to changes that result from environmental situations and remain relatively constant over time(1313 Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. Inventário de ansiedade traço-estado (IDATE). Rio de Janeiro: CEPA; 1979.).

The association between anxiety and acute myocardial infarction has shown a negative impact on these patients' prognoses, since it causes many physiological changes(1414 Huffman JC, Celano CM, Januzzi JL. The relationship between depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];6:123- 36. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874336/pdf/ndt-6-123.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
-1515 Player MS, Peterson LE. Anxiety disorders, hypertension, and cardiovascular risk: a review. Int J Psychiatry Med [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2015 Jan 07];41(4):365-77. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238841
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238...
) in addition to the psychic manifestations. Anxiety may activate the sympathetic nervous system, increasing heart rate and contraction, blood pressure, and oxygen consumption, and may eventually lead to an increase in the disease's severity(1414 Huffman JC, Celano CM, Januzzi JL. The relationship between depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];6:123- 36. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874336/pdf/ndt-6-123.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
-1515 Player MS, Peterson LE. Anxiety disorders, hypertension, and cardiovascular risk: a review. Int J Psychiatry Med [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2015 Jan 07];41(4):365-77. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238841
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238...
).

Anxiety is often more intense according to the procedure the patient is undergoing, as well as how the patient assesses such procedure. Bed bath is one of the procedures that may intensify this feeling(1616 Lopes JL, Nogueira-Martins LA, Gonçalves MAB, Barros ALBL. Comparing levels of anxiety during bed and shower baths in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(2):80-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.p...
).

Thus, we consider it essential to conduct studies that verify the impact of the specific protocols of nursing guidance regarding different nursing procedures on the anxiety of patients with acute coronary syndrome, because these studies may contribute to good nursing practices.

This study's objective was to assess the effectiveness of a nursing guidance protocol for decreasing state-anxiety in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing bed baths and to assess the relationship between vital signs and state-anxiety.

METHOD

Ethical Aspects

The study was preceded by an approval by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of São Paulo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo) [UNIFESP], through the signing of a free and informed consent form, registered at clinical. trials.org (NCT01724762).

Design, period, and study location: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted in the period from March 2011 to October 2012 in the coronary units of the Heart Institute of the Central Teaching Hospital of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo (Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo) [InCor-HCFMUSP], a reference service for education, care, and research in cardiology in Brazil. This institution serves clinical and surgery patients with various heart and lung diseases.

Population and inclusion criteria: The sample was comprised of patients with acute coronary syndrome who were admitted to coronary units.

Inclusion criteria: Age >18, any gender, with at least four years of education (self-applicable instruments), without lung congestion (Killip I)(1717 Killip T, Kimball JT. Treatment of myocardial infarction in a coronary care unit. A two year experience with 250 patients. Am J Cardiol [Internet]. 1967 [cited 2015 Jan 07];20(4):457-64. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6059183
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/60591...
), and with a first-time recommendation for bed bath in the current admission.

Exclusion criteria: Presence of vascular conditions or arteriovenous fistula in the upper left limb, because this limb is the standard for measuring arterial pressure; exposed to situations that may influence anxiety or vital signs such as the presence of arrhythmia, ischemic pain, or performance of invasive procedures on the day of inclusion in the study; use of benzodiazepines or anxiolytics; changes in the level of consciousness; or visual deficit.

Calculation of sample size: Based on a previous study(1616 Lopes JL, Nogueira-Martins LA, Gonçalves MAB, Barros ALBL. Comparing levels of anxiety during bed and shower baths in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(2):80-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.p...
), in which the mean score for state-anxiety (41.4 points) was obtained immediately after informing the patient of the need to have baths on the bed. This score refers to moderate anxiety and the patient would have to reach a score below 34 points to obtain a significant decrease in state-anxiety after the intervention. This score refers to light anxiety, with a difference of seven points less in the state-anxiety score between groups. For a significance level of 5% and power of 95%, the minimum sample size to detect a difference of seven points in the state-anxiety score between groups, according to Wilcoxon's rank sum test, was 112 patients. Foreseeing the possibility of losses during data gathering, we increased the sample size by 10% and, therefore, the final sample consisted of 124 patients.

Study Protocol: Patients were divided into two groups (group 1 or intervention group and group 2 or control group) and randomly chosen using the computer system Random®(1818 Random.org [Internet]. [place unknown]: Random; [updated 2015 Apr 08; cited 2014 Mai 15]. Available from: http://www.random.org
http://www.random.org...
). The program generated a sequence of two numbers, 1 and 2, and patients were assigned according to the random sequence predetermined by this system. Group 1 or the intervention group consisted of the patients who received the guidance protocol. The protocol was built from the main researcher's clinical experience in coronary units and from previously conducted research(1616 Lopes JL, Nogueira-Martins LA, Gonçalves MAB, Barros ALBL. Comparing levels of anxiety during bed and shower baths in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(2):80-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.p...
), and included verbal and written guidelines contained in an informative manual regarding bed bath. The manual was previously constructed and validated, according to the stages described by Echer(1919 Echer IC. [The development of handbooks of health care guidelines]. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2005 [updated 2015 Apr 08; cited 2015 Jan 07];13(5):754-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v13n5/v13n5a22.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v13n5/v13n...
), and contained information about what a bed bath is, the reason for the patient to need this type of bath, the professional who conducts this procedure, how it is done, length of the procedure, and how many times a day the patient needs to have it done(2020 Lopes JL, Nogueira-Martins LA, Barbosa DA, Barros ALBL. Development and validation of an informative bookelet on bed bath. Acta Paul Enferm [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2015 Jan 07];26(6):554-60. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v26n6/en_08.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v26n6/en_08...
). First, the patients read the informative manual and, afterward, the main researchers addressed any questions or doubts about the information contained in the manual. We called attention to the fact that, as the patient read the manual, the researcher stood beside the patient. The guidance protocol had an average length of 10 minutes.

Group 2 or the control group consisted of the patients who received only routine information in the unit. In other words, they were told that the bath would be conducted on the bed while maintaining their privacy.

To conduct the bed bath in both groups, the patients remained lying down and the same professional conducted the procedure. The patients’ state-anxiety was the outcome of the study. It was evaluated at three different times:

  1. Immediately after informing patients about the need to take baths on the bed, with the goal of evaluating the impact of this information on them

  2. Immediately after interventions (nursing guidance or routine information), with the goal of evaluating the impact of this guidance or information; and

  3. Immediately after the bed bath, with the goal of evaluating anxiety generated by the procedure

The guidance protocol (intervention group) or routine unit information (control group) were conducted only once between the first and second assessment of state-anxiety.

Anxiety was assessed through the State-Anxiety Inventory–A-State(1313 Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. Inventário de ansiedade traço-estado (IDATE). Rio de Janeiro: CEPA; 1979.). This inventory assesses anxiety at the time of data gathering, and scores vary from 20 to 80 points, with a higher score corresponding to higher anxiety for the patient(1313 Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. Inventário de ansiedade traço-estado (IDATE). Rio de Janeiro: CEPA; 1979.). The following categories and score values were used to assess results: low anxiety (20-34 points); moderate anxiety (35-49 points); elevated anxiety (50-64 points); and very elevated anxiety (65-80 points).

Vital signs were assessed before state-anxiety and obtained through a cardiac monitor.

Socio-demographic and clinical variables (age, gender, systemic arterial hypertension, stress, obesity, sedentariness, family history of cardiovascular disease, smoking, alcoholism, use of beta-blockers, previous medical diagnosis and/or depression symptoms, trait-anxiety, and any previous hospital admission) were obtained through interviews with the patients, data from medical records, and validated instruments. These variables were assessed because they might influence the patients’ state-anxiety.

Socio-demographic and clinical variables were gathered through an instrument created by the researchers and used in a previous study(1616 Lopes JL, Nogueira-Martins LA, Gonçalves MAB, Barros ALBL. Comparing levels of anxiety during bed and shower baths in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(2):80-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.p...
). Trait-anxiety was assessed through the Trait-Anxiety Inventory, which assesses the patients’ anxiety profile and has a score that varies from 20 to 80 points(1313 Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. Inventário de ansiedade traço-estado (IDATE). Rio de Janeiro: CEPA; 1979.). The same values, scores, and categories from state-anxiety were used to assess the results.

Depression symptoms were assessed through the Beck Depression Inventory(1111 Beck AT, Steer RA, Garbin MG. Psychometric properties of the beck depression inventory: twenty-five years of evaluation. Clin Psychol Rev. 1988;8(1):77-100.-1212 Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation, 1996.). This inventory is self-applicable and assesses the frequency and intensity of depression symptoms in the past week. It has 21 categories, with four alternatives that vary from 0 to 3, with 0 corresponding to absence of symptoms and 3 to the presence of intense symptoms. In this study, we used the following categorization for patients with a previous medical diagnosis of depression(1111 Beck AT, Steer RA, Garbin MG. Psychometric properties of the beck depression inventory: twenty-five years of evaluation. Clin Psychol Rev. 1988;8(1):77-100.-1212 Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation, 1996.): scores from 0 to 9 (no depression symptoms); scores from 10 to 18 (light depression symptoms); scores from 19 to 29 (moderate depression symptoms); scores from 30 to 63 (heavy depression symptoms). Patients with no previous medical diagnosis of depression, according to the patient’s report and/or information obtained through medical records, were categorized as: scores from 0 to 14 (no depression symptoms); scores from 15 to 19 (dysphoria symptoms); scores 20 or over (depression symptoms).

We present the researched patients’ flowchart in Figure 1.

Figure 1
Flowchart of researched patients, São Paulo, 2011-2012

Statistical analysis: We used the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 19. Data normality was tested using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The statistical tests chi-square, likelihood ratio, and Student-t were used to verify whether the socio-demographic and clinical variables between the control and intervention groups were similar, because these might influence results. To compare levels of state-anxiety in the intervention and control groups, we used the Mann-Whitney Test each time. Correlation between stateanxiety and vital signs at the three times of evaluation was verified through Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Values p<0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Of the 120 patients that were assessed, most were male (n=82; 68.3%), hypertensive (n=88; 73.3%), and with an average age (SD) of 61(9.5) years. We verified that, regarding trait-anxiety, 70% of assessed patients from both groups presented moderate, elevated, or very elevated anxiety. As for depression, we observed that 22 (18.3%) patients presented with this diagnosis before the study, with 12 belonging to the intervention group and 10 to the control group. Twenty (90.1%) of these patients presented with depression symptoms confirmed by the Beck Depression Inventory. Of the patients who did not present with a previous medical diagnosis of depression (n=98), more than half presented with no symptoms of the disease when the Beck Depression Inventory was applied.

It may be observed in Table 1 that the intervention and control groups were similar, except for smoking (p=0.007). The prevalence of smoking patients was higher in the intervention group (n=15; 25%) when compared to the control group (N=10; 16.7%); however, this result was random, because patients were randomized.

Table 1
Comparison of socio-demographic and clinical variables between control and intervention groups. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2011-2012

State-anxiety was assessed in 120 patients (60 from the intervention group and 60 from the control group). Table 2 shows that, on the first assessment, both groups were homogenious (p=0.773). In the second and third assessments, the intervention group had significantly lower state-anxiety in comparison to the control group.

Table 2
Comparison between state-anxiety of the control group and state-anxiety of the intervention group at the three times of assessment. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2011-2012

We observed that there was no correlation among any vital signs and state-anxiety in either group (Table 3).

Table 3
Correlation between State-Anxiety and Vital Signs in the Three Assessments. Pearson Correlation Coefficient. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2011-2012

DISCUSSION

The hospitalized patient who receives a bed bath, goes from an independent individual to a dependent individual needing care from the nursing team in order to perform this procedure(2121 Nakatani AYK, Souza ACS, Gomes IV, Sousa MM. [Bathing on bed at the intensive care unit: perceptions of whom receives it]. Ciênc Cuid Saude. 2004;3(1):13-21. Portuguese.), and the fear of the unknown may cause many expectations, feelings, and emotions such as anxiety(5Maruiti MR, Galdeano LE, Farah OGD. Anxiety and depression in relatives of patients admitted in intensive care units. Acta Paul Enferm [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];21(4):636-42. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v21n4/en_a16v21n4.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v21n4/en_a1...
,2222 Maruiti MR, Galdeano LE. [Needs of family members of patients admitted to an intensive care unit]. Acta Paul Enferm [Internet]. 2007 [updated 2015 Apr 08; cited 2015 Jan 07];20(1):37-43. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v20n1/a07v20n1.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v20n1/a07v2...
).

The individual needs to feel safe in regard to the procedure that will be conducted, because if there are doubts they can cause unpleasant feelings such as anxiety and anguish(5Maruiti MR, Galdeano LE, Farah OGD. Anxiety and depression in relatives of patients admitted in intensive care units. Acta Paul Enferm [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];21(4):636-42. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v21n4/en_a16v21n4.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ape/v21n4/en_a1...
). In this context, the hypothesis that a nursing guidance protocol is effective to decrease anxiety in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing bed bath was proved in this study.

Other research has also proven the importance of guidance for people with coronaropathies when it emphasized that guidance brings about a significant decrease in levels of depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, and an increase in these patients' quality of life(2323 Tel H, Tel H. The effect of individualized education on the transfer anxiety of patients with myocardial infarction and their families. Heart Lung [Internet]. 2006 Mar-Apr [cited 2015 Jan 07];35(2):101-7. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147956305001640
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...
-2424 Gozzo TO, Lopes RR, Prado MAS, Cruz LAP, Almeida AM. [Information to the development of an educational manual for women with breast cancer]. Esc Anna Nery Rev Enferm [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2015 Jan 07];16(2):306-11. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v16n2/14.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v16n2/14.pd...
). Therefore, it is fundamentally important that nurses guide patients who are undergoing bed baths with the goal of attenuating or eradicating anxiety, because this feeling may reflect on not only the psychic aspect, but also on the individual's physiological aspect.

Nursing guidance may be transmitted individually or through informative manuals. Informative manuals have the goal of helping patients and families during treatment and self-care and standardizing the guidance that will be followed by the health care team so that patients may understand the health-disease process and help in decision making(2424 Gozzo TO, Lopes RR, Prado MAS, Cruz LAP, Almeida AM. [Information to the development of an educational manual for women with breast cancer]. Esc Anna Nery Rev Enferm [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2015 Jan 07];16(2):306-11. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v16n2/14.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v16n2/14.pd...

25 Oliveira MS, Fernandes AFC, Sawada NO. [Educational handbook for self care in women with mastectomies: a validation study]. Texto & Contexto Enferm [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];17(1):115-23. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v17n1/13.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v17n1/13.pd...
-2626 Panobianco MS, Souza PS, Prado MAS, Gozzo TO, Magalhães PAP, Almeida AM. [Knowledge construction necessary for the development of a didactic-instructive manual for post mastectomy lymphedema prevention]. Texto & Contexto Enferm [Internet]. 2009 Jul-Sep [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(3):418-26. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v18n3/a03v18n3.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v18n3/a03v1...
).

Regarding the correlation between state-anxiety and physiological variables, we observed that no vital signs correlated to patients' state-anxiety. This result was also found in other studies(1616 Lopes JL, Nogueira-Martins LA, Gonçalves MAB, Barros ALBL. Comparing levels of anxiety during bed and shower baths in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];18(2):80-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n2/12.p...
,2727 De Jong MJ, Moser DK, An K, Chung ML. Anxiety is not manifested by elevated heart rate and blood pressure in acutely ill cardiac patients. Eur J Cardiovasc Nur [Internet]. 2004 [cited 2015 Jan 07];3(3):247-53. Available from: http://cnu.sagepub.com/content/3/3/247.full.pdf+html
http://cnu.sagepub.com/content/3/3/247.f...
). Although health care professionals believe that increases in anxiety can be detected through changes in heart rate and arterial pressure(1414 Huffman JC, Celano CM, Januzzi JL. The relationship between depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2015 Jan 07];6:123- 36. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874336/pdf/ndt-6-123.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
-1515 Player MS, Peterson LE. Anxiety disorders, hypertension, and cardiovascular risk: a review. Int J Psychiatry Med [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2015 Jan 07];41(4):365-77. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238841
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238...
,2828 Martens EJ, Nyklícek I, Szabó BM, Kupper N. Depression and anxiety as predictors of heart rate variability after myocardial infarction. Psychol Med [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2015 Jan 07];38(3):375-83. Available from: http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPSM%2FPSM38_03%2FS0033291707002097a.pdf&code=0697f739b9642d1f28e851f47f408cb
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.p...
), there is no consensus in the literature regarding the correlation between vital signs and anxiety. This lack of consensus can be related to the heterogeneity of methods employed in the studies, for assessing both state-anxiety and physiological variables. However, even if such a correlation were to exist, anxiety generated during the bed bath in this study was not sufficient to change such parameters. However, it is important to note that more than 80% of the patients in both groups used beta-blockers, which may have influenced the results in this study.

With this, nurses performing bed baths should not only consider the execution of the procedure's technique, but also show involvement and availability to care for the patient under his or her responsibility. Therefore, we believe that psychic changes resulting from nursing procedures such as bed baths should be a focus of attention for these professionals, because it aims for the well-being of the individual as a whole organism. The nurse must guarantee that information is clear, objective, and precise so that these changes may be minimized.

Limitations of the study

We may point to a limitation of the study the lack of blinding during interventions; however, we also point out that the assessment instruments were self-applicable, with no influence from the researcher. Another aspect is that most patients from both groups used beta-blockers, which may have contributed to the fact that we found no correlation between state-anxiety and vital signs.

Practice implications

This guidance protocol may be duplicated in intensive care units and may be used as a tool to improve the quality of care dedicated to patients undergoing bed bath.

CONCLUSION

The nursing guidance protocol was effective in reducing anxiety in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing bed baths.

The adoption of strategies with the goal of reducing anxiety during different nursing procedures contributes to practice based on evidence and to the patient's safety.

  • How to cite this article:
    Lopes JL, Barbosa DA, Nogueira-Martins LA, Barros ALBL. Nursing guidance on bed baths to reduce anxiety. Rev Bras Enferm. 2015;68(3):437-43.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    June 2015

History

  • Received
    07 Jan 2015
  • Accepted
    11 Mar 2015
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