Task-Shifting from Acupuncturists to Nurses in Delivering Acupuncture/Acupressure or Supervising Patient Self-Administered Acupressure for Sleep Management: Is It Feasible?

Acupuncture and acupressure are widely used for managing self-reported impaired sleep quality and duration. However, outside East Asia, access is often limited due to a shortage of trained acupuncturists and minimal reimbursement under national health insurance systems, leading to treatment discontinuation or inaccessibility driven by "Financial Toxicity." This prompts a critical yet underexplored inquiry: can advanced practice nurses serve as alternative providers to deliver acupuncture/acupressure for managing these common sleep complaints, thereby improving accessibility, expanding treatment coverage, and lowering consultation costs? This comprehensive mini-review synthesizes current evidence to assess the feasibility of this promising and innovative acupuncturist-nurse task-shifting paradigm and outlines key preparatory steps for its pilot implementation.