PURPOSE: This quasi-experimental study was to explore the effects of back massage with Lavender essence oil on the stress response of the ICU nurses.
METHOD
Twenty nurses were selected as an experimental group and twenty nurses were in the control group. Lavender essence oil mixed with Jojova carrier oil was used to massage the neck, shoulder, back, and low back. Massage was done three times a week for 20 minutes for 2 weeks by the massage therapist. The stress response was measured with a subjective stress score, Cortisol and IgA level in saliva. The cortisol level in saliva was analyzed by an radioimmunoassay before and after back massage. The level of IgA in saliva was analyzed by an immunoturbidimeter assay and subjective stress scores was measured by Visual Analogue Scale. The data was analyzed using SPSS 8.0 and the hypotheses were tested by ANCOVA and the Pearson coefficient correlation.
RESULT
1) Score of subjective stress decreased significantly after the use of back massage with Lavender essence oil. 2) Level of Cortisol in saliva did not change significantly after the use of back massage with Lavender essence oil. 3) Level of IgA in saliva increased significantly after the use of back massage with Lavender essence oil. 4) After the use of back massage with Lavender essence oil, there was significant negative correlation between subjective stress and level of IgA in saliva.
CONCLUSION
Back massage with Lavender essence oil is an effective intervention to reduce the stress response in the ICU nurses.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to explore the effect of aromatherapy massage on the mood, the milk ejection reflex, and the immunoglobulin A of the breast milk of mothers who gave birth through a Cesarean section delivery. Twenty mothers who had Cesarean section were selected as an experimental group, and twenty-two were in the control group. Lavander and Rosemary oil mixed with Jojova carrier oil was used to massage the back, both axillar and breasts. Aromatherapy massage was done once a day for 20 minutes by the researcher. Each session consisted of 4 minutes for warm-up, 14 minutes for massage and 2 minutes for closure. The levels of IgA within the breast milk was analyzed by an immunoturbidimeter assay (Cobas INTEGRA, Roche, Swiss) before and after aromatherapy massage. Mood and milk ejection reflex were measured by self-reports at the same time. The data were analyzed using SPSS 7.5 and the hypotheses were tested by ANCOVA and the Pearson coefficient correlation. The results were as follows: 1) Score of mood increased significantly after the use of aromatherapy massage. 2) Score of milk ejection reflex increased significantly after the use of aromatherapy massage. 3) Level of IgA of breast milk did not change significantly after the use of aromatherapy massage. 4) After the use of aromatherapy massage, there wasn't any correlation among mood, milk ejection reflex, and level of IgA of breast milk. In conclusion, the results suggest that aromatherapy massage is an effective nursing intervention to enhance the mood and the milk ejection reflex and to increase the rate of breastfeeding in the breastfeeding mothers under stresses like a Cesarean section.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of a postpartum massage program on stress response in the Cesarean section mothers. The study focused on evaluating the effect of postpartum massage program on mood, anxiety, skin temperature and concentration of saliva and breast milk immunoglobulin A in the Cesarean section mothers. This study was designed as a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study. Twenty-eight Cesarean section mothers were selected as experimental group, whereas twenty- seven were control group. The postpartum massage program consisted of 20 minutes of warm-up, massage and ending phases and used once a day. During each program, there were 4 minutes of warm-up, 14 minutes of massage on back, axillary and breasts, and 2 minutes of ending. Massage were used for the experimental group by the same investigator 20 times per minute. The massage technique used were efflurage, petrissage, accupressure, kneading and vibration. Skin temperature was monitored with YSI Tele-thermometer(Simpson electric Co., USA) before and after massage program. The concentration of immunoglobulin A in saliva and breast milk was analyzed by immunoturbididimeter assay(Cobas INTEGRA, Roche, Swiss) before and after massage program. Also at this time mood and anxiety were measured by self-report. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 7.5 and hypothesis was tested with ANCOVA analysis and Pearson coefficient correlation. The results were as follows : 1) Score of mood increased significantly after use of postpartum massage program. 2) Level of anxiety decreased significantly after use of postpartum massage program. 3) Skin temperature increased significantly after use of postpartum massage program. 4) Concentration of saliva immunoglobulin A increased significantly after use of postpartum massage program. 5) Concentration of breast milk immunoglobulin A did not change significantly after use of postpartum massage program. 6) After use of postpartum massage program, there was significant correlation between psychological stress response and physiological stress response. The results suggest that postpartum massage program can be effective nursing intervention to reduce stress response in the postpartum mothers under stress.