• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate the effects of Lebed method exercise (LME) on nurses' depression, anxiety and stress. The LME is a therapeutic exercise and movement program developed by Sherry Lebed Davis and expected to lessen the stress level of nurses and enhance the nursing job's satisfaction and efficiency. This study was utilized a non equivalent control group pre-post test design. Method: The subjects were 36 nurses in total; 18 in experimental group and 18 in control group. The data were collected from March to August, 2008. For the experimental group, 8 hour-long lectures on stress management and LME were given for 12 weeks. For the control group, only lectures on stress management was given. Depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and heart rate variability were measured on the subjects in both groups as pre- and post tests. The data were analyzed by Kolmogrov-Smirov test and P-P plot, t-test and $x^2-test$ using the SPSS program. Results: As proposed in the hypothesis, the subjects in the experimental group experienced less depression (t=2.286, p=.029), less anxiety (t=3.319, p=.002) and less perceived stress(t=2.862, p=.007) than those in the control group. Conclusion: The LME is considered an effective exercise to improve depression, anxiety, and to lessen stress for the nurses. The LME program has potential to be one of the effective stress management interventions for nurses in the future.