Investigation of Nursing Thesis Made by the Applying Acupressure in the Field of Child Health: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

Objective: To examine the nursing thesis made by applying acupressure in the field of child health in Turkey; analyze the results of thesis; to provide concrete data to researchers and nurses and other health professionals who provide health services to children. Method: In this study, nursing master's and doctoral (graduate) theses made in Turkey using acupressure in children between January 2000 and September 30, 2022 were searched through the advanced search option on the National Thesis Center database. After selecting “Thesis Name” while searching the literature, a search was made by typing the words “acupressure”, “acupressure”, “acupressure”, “acupressure”, “acupressure”, “acupressure”, “acupressure” in the “Search Term” tab. Results: As a result of the examination, 7 postgraduate thesis meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated. Of these postgraduate theses, 4 (57%) were made at the master's level and 3 (43%) were at the doctoral level. In the review, it was determined that 1 doctorate thesis in 2014 and 1 doctorate thesis in 2017, 2 master's thesis in 2018, 1 doctorate thesis in 2019, 1 master's thesis in 2020 and 1 master's thesis in 2021. When the theses were examined, the effect of acupressure on acute interventional pain (venous blood collection, heel stick), infantile colic, chemotherapy induced nausea-vomiting and anxiety as well as respiratory functions were evaluated in children, and it was reported by the researchers that it had a positive effect on complaints other than anxiety. In addition, it was found that 5 (71.4%) of the examined postgraduate nursing theses were published in a national or international journal. Conclusions: It was seen that the postgraduate theses were mostly effective in reaching their aims, their findings were compatible with the literature, and acupressure was an effective non-pharmacological method in relieving or preventing the symptoms of the disease. Although the number of theses on the that subject is done almost every year in Turkey, it is still not at a sufficient level, and it is thought that the increase in the number of theses will shed light on other studies and researchers.