The effect of aromatherapy inhalation on the therapeutic relationship and work stress levels of psychiatric nurses

Psychiatric nurses work under high workload and emotional pressure, and this negatively affects the quality of the therapeutic relationship between nurses and patients, thus negatively affecting the quality of patient care. Aromatherapy can contribute to the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship by reducing the job stress of psychiatric nurses and acting as a mediator in the creation of a therapeutic environment. This study was conducted using a single-center, prospective (pre-test and post-test), two-arm (1:1) and randomized controlled experimental research design in order to examine the effects of aromatherapy inhalation on the therapeutic relationship and job stress levels of psychiatric nurses. The sample of the study consisted of 66 psychiatric nurses (experimental group: 33, control group: 33) working in the Psychiatric Clinic building of Ankara Etlik City Hospital between January 1 and March 31, 2025. The research data were collected through the "Introductory Information Form, General Job Stress Scale, Therapeutic Relationship Evaluation Scale - Nursing Form". In the application phase of the study, aromatherapy inhalation with lavender oil was applied to psychiatric nurses in the experimental group, and no intervention was made to psychiatric nurses in the control group. In this study, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference in general job stress levels of psychiatric nurses in the experimental group compared to those in the control group after aromatherapy inhalation (p>0,05). In addition, it was found that the therapeutic relationship total (p=0,042) and "Participation in care (p=0,001)" sub-dimension scores of psychiatric nurses in the experimental group after aromatherapy inhalation differed statistically significantly, while the "Empathy, Self-Awareness and Orientation/orientation (p>0,05)" sub-dimension scores did not differ statistically significantly. Aromatherapy can be integrated into routine nursing practices in order to strengthen the quality of the therapeutic relationship between patient and nurse in psychiatric wards. In future research, the use of multi-faceted assessment tools that can measure the cognitive, emotional and physiological dimensions of job stress and therapeutic relationship quality will contribute to a more accurate evaluation of the impact of the practice.