Touch To Nurse Means To Nurture - Unleashing the Power of Gentle Contact for Optimal Care

In the realm of healthcare, touch holds a remarkable power that goes beyond the physical. From the gentle stroke of a mother's hand on her newborn's cheek, to the comforting embrace of a nurse supporting a patient, human touch plays a vital role in nurturing and healing.

Touch is an essential form of communication that fosters trust, reduces anxiety, and promotes emotional well-being. In the nursing profession, touch becomes an invaluable tool for building rapport with patients and providing holistic care.

The Power of Touch in Nursing

Physiological studies have revealed the significant impact touch has on both the giver and the receiver. When a nurse uses touch during patient care, it triggers a release of oxytocin, often referred to as the "love hormone," in both parties. Oxytocin promotes bonding, empathy, and an overall sense of well-being.

Touch (To Nurse Means to Nurture Book 4)

by The Law Store(Kindle Edition)

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	525 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	62 pages

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For patients, the power of touch can alleviate pain, reduce stress, and improve their overall experience. Simple gestures like holding a patient's hand during a procedure or a comforting pat on the back can provide immense comfort and emotional support.

Moreover, touch enhances the nurse-patient relationship, allowing for effective communication and the establishment of trust. Patients are more likely to share their concerns, fears, and vulnerabilities when they feel a sense of connection with their caregivers. This, in turn, enables healthcare professionals to provide more personalized care tailored to the unique needs of each patient.

Implementing Touch in Nursing Practice

While touch is a powerful tool in nursing, it is crucial to exercise professionalism, respect boundaries, and obtain informed consent from patients before initiating physical contact. The appropriateness of touch varies depending on cultural backgrounds, personal preferences, and the specific context of care.

Nurses must undergo specialized training to understand the importance of touch, develop their sensitivity to patients' non-verbal cues, and learn how to adapt their touch to individual patient needs and wishes.

The Challenges and Benefits

Implementing touch in nursing practice poses certain challenges. In a busy healthcare setting, time constraints and the need to maintain professional boundaries can make it difficult to incorporate touch into routine patient care. Furthermore, some patients may have negative associations with touch due to past experiences, trauma, or cultural beliefs.

However, the benefits of touch in nursing far outweigh the challenges. Research has shown that touch not only improves patient satisfaction but also enhances healing and recovery processes. Patients who experience the compassionate touch of a nurse tend to have shorter hospital stays, require fewer pain medications, and exhibit improved health outcomes.

Touch is a fundamental aspect of human connection, and in the nursing profession, it is a powerful tool for nurturing and providing holistic care. By embracing touch, nurses can create an environment that promotes trust, comfort, and emotional well-being for patients.

While navigating the complexities of touch in nursing practice can be challenging, healthcare professionals must acknowledge its immense benefits and strive to incorporate it into patient care wherever appropriate.

Touch to nurse truly means to nurture. It is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients and create healing connections that go beyond words.

Touch (To Nurse Means to Nurture Book 4)

by The Law Store(Kindle Edition)

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	525 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	62 pages

FREE

This book is a shorter version of my first "To Nurse Means to Nurture" that I have written to put special emphasis on "touch" and how it applies to nurses. First, I ran into nurses that said, "It's not in my job description to comfort my patients" in the past 3 years. When I proved them wrong, they said, "Yes, but that does not include physical contact. No hugging and no touching. It's not in our job description." I wrote this book to show you that the direct opposite is true. You will see references to "touch" and "touch therapy" and "comfort" used several times over in various college textbooks of nursing, especially Fundamentals of Nursing 7th Edition, Potter and Perry, Mosby Elsevier, 2009 and my notes on nurse education videos I have seen with my own eyes that actually show female nurses in action "touching" both male and female middle aged patients who are not dying but just having procedures done by "rubbing their heads", "holding their hands", "patting their shoulders", and "rubbing their shoulders" to comfort them through needle sticks and procedures. St. Jude's Hospital Commercials also show their female nurses doing all of these same things for both their male and female kid patients as well as "hugging" them and "putting their arm around them" in addition to the hand holds, head rubs, and shoulder pats. They do it all. The Health Care Career Vision DVD from 2008 says, "Nurses need to be comfortable "touching" their patients if they are to work with them. Fundamentals of Nursing 7th Edition, Potter and Perry, Mosby Elsevier 2009 says this very same thing. It continually encourages touch and touch therapy and says that the "patient's needs take priority over the nurses' needs and the patient's needs are to be met above that of the nurses." It constantly tells them to comfort them and touch them as well as does 'Basic Psychophysiologic Nursing from 1979 and a few other sources. So, does the AARP magazine in an article about Dr. Meir trying to change the face of the medical community to make them more of a palliative care team and comfort their patients rather than treat them like objects, and the article from "The Power of Touch" from December 2015-January 2016s edition. I already had dictionary and encyclopedia references to nurses comforting their patients, and "to nurse means to nurture" in the dictionary. Because these nurses insist that comfort "does not" include physical contact, I have included dozens of comments on "Touch" and "Touch Therapy" from these sources and others. Other videos also showed nurses hugging patients and rubbing their heads and holding their hands. There are even a slew of pictures on the internet of Nursing Hugging their Patients when you type that in or comforting their patients if you type that in. It's not anything new. They've always done it, and what makes them think they haven't I don't know. You're not a bunch of professionals from a firm taking care of robots, you are nurses and you are the caretakers of those in your care and you are the "mother surrogates" of the patients in your care and you are to show them the same affection and attention as their own mother would as stated by Lisa Newton who defends the traditional role of the nurse. I hope this solves this dilemma of this "no touch" nursing philosophy everybody has and makes them see the light to the true meaning of nursing. Please read my book and be enlightened as to what the profession of nursing really entails. Thanks. Your friend, Brian Gene Evans