Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique on Nursing Students Exam Anxiety

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on the state exam anxiety levels of nursing students. Background: Exam anxiety is a common problem among nursing students. EFT has emerged as a complementary method to reduce exam anxiety. However, experimental studies on this subject are limited in the literature. Design: Randomized controlled trial design. Methods: This study was carried out with second-year students enrolled in the Surgical Nursing course at the Faculty of Nursing of a state university. Participants were assigned to intervention and control groups using simple random sampling. One hour before the exam, all students were present in the exam hall. While the intervention group received EFT, the control group was given free time. Data were collected using the State Test Anxiety Scale (STAS) and the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUD). Descriptive statistics, normality tests (Shapiro-Wilk/Kolmogorov-Smirnov), independent and paired samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon test, and two-way mixed ANOVA were used for data analysis. The significance level was set at p\<0.05. Outcomes: There were no significant differences between the groups in the pre-test STAS total and subscale scores or SUD scores. However, post-test results revealed statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in all measurements (p\<0.05), with effect sizes ranging from medium to large. The time and group-time interaction effects for STAS total and subscale scores and SUD scores were also significant (p\<0.05), and the effect size of the change over time was determined to be large (η² \> 0.14). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that EFT is effective in reducing exam anxiety among nursing students. EFT should be considered a complementary intervention in managing exam anxiety. It is recommended that EFT be integrated into the support services provided to students prior to examinations.