Battlefield Auricular Acupressure for Emergency Department and Inpatient Psychiatric Patients with Co-occurring Chronic or Acute Pain Management
Patients presenting to the Behavioral Health Emergency Room and requiring admission may have co-occurring pain, which can significantly impact their mental health. Pain management is challenging as prescribed opioids can interfere with psychiatric treatment and increase the risk for opioid related issues. This pilot study aimed to address this challenge by offering patients with co-occurring pain an option to receive Battlefield auricular acupressure as an adjunct to medication for pain management.
Acupressure is within the scope of practice for nurses according to the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Becoming an acupressure nurse interventionist includes participation in a virtual course and a three-hour hands-on practice session. In this study, ten patients had five acupressure pads per ear placed at pre-selected acupoints as per protocol shortly after admission and remained on patients during their stay. Patients were assessed for pain and for anxiety on days 1 and 3 of their stay.
We were able to incorporate the treatment without much disruption to the nurse’s workflow. Results show an improvement in general anxiety disorder scores, a slight improvement in visual analogue pain scores, and overall patient satisfaction with pain management.
Health care professionals can easily be trained to administer the Battlefield auricular acupressure protocol. This treatment can be implemented with minimal disruption of the staff’s workflow and results suggest the potential for this treatment to be a part of pain and anxiety management. Next steps include assessing the use of Battlefield auricular acupressure in a larger observational study with a control group.
