Aromatherapy May Ease Work Stress
We all know that workplace stress is a big source of what ruins the day for lots of people.
You go to work absolutely dreading it, and by the time you get back home, your absolutely worn down and stressed about having to face it all again the next day.
However, there are some things you can do to lessen workplace stress. Typical advice to date has been to find a career that you love, minimize exposure to coworkers you dislike, delegate tasks to others, etc.
But one study has shown that workers in some of the most stressful careers are using aromatherapy essential oils at work – to deal with their stress. Imagine the challenges working in the field of cancer treatments.
Every day nurses and doctors are dealing with life altering situations, where some patients die and they are dealing with the resulting stress of this stress on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis. Second-hand stress itself is something that affects everyone, too – so you may get a double whammy working in some careers.
At the Oncology Nursing Society 39th Annual Congress, a study was presented that showed nurses dealing with cancer patients were able to make improvements to their own health and job performance using essential oils dispersed by aromatherapy diffusers in the office.
This career is one that suffers high turnover due to the relentless emotional impact of the job, as well as high demands and standards placed on the workers that often leads to a complete burnout, so they often leave their jobs.
The James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio conducted the study using aromatherapy diffusers to dispense essential oils over a 6-week timespan. They placed strategically them at a main nursing station.
They conducted before and after studies of workplace stress and measured four data points: worry, demands, tension and lack of joy. Improvement was seen in all areas except the lack of joy data point. However, according to the study, the time during which the study was conducted coincided with an exceptional number of patient deaths. This fact may account for this result, since nurses are responsible for their patients and care deeply about their recoveries.
If you suffer from workplace stress, you should consider trying for yourself the relaxing, uplifting and energizing power of essential oils in an aromatherapy diffuser, or some other aromatherapy method that won’t interfere with others around you. It could help you see your job in a whole new light – and protect you from the burden of daily stress at work.
Copyright © Oncology Nursing Society 2014.
