ABSTRACT
Objective
To analyze the benefits of auriculoacupuncture in nursing professionals working in the COVID-19 pandemic in the light of Katherine Kolcaba's Theory of Comfort.
Method
Descriptive research with a qualitative approach, carried out with 33 nursing professionals working to combat COVID-19. The testimonies were collected through interviews after conducting auriculoacupuncture sessions, then organized and analyzed according to Bardin's content analysis, anchored in the Comfort Theory.
Results
Three thematic categories emerged: “Auriculoacupuntra as a measure of comfort”; “(Dis) Physical and psychospiritual comfort and performance in assisting COVID-19”; and, “From organizational support to individual commitment to health”. It appears that the subjects reported an improvement in their self-perception of comfort, with emphasis on the physical and psychospiritual domains, such as improvement in anxiety, pain and quality of sleep. Institutional integrity appears as an ally to health-seeking behavior.
Final considerations and implications for practice: Auriculoacupuncture was perceived as beneficial for improving the feeling of physical and psycho-spiritual comfort by nursing professionals.
Keywords:
Acupunture, Ear; Nursing Theory; Coronavirus Infections. Nursing