Therapeutic Touching of Patients in Nursing Care
Abstract
Even while deliberate touch’s function, effects, and significance in nursing practice are still not well understood, recent research has shown that it is one of the cornerstones of nursing care. Given the particular difficulties and experiences of the population, the approach is especially pertinent to geriatric care. In addition to being psychologically and emotionally fragile, elderly patients are more likely to be isolated from friends and family, so therapeutic contact will significantly reduce emotions of isolation and loss. Humans frequently utilize physical contact and/or touch to express friendliness, sympathy, and support. The act of hugging is commonly thought of as one way that people make use of physical touch to express their feelings and create a sense of intimacy. Hugging as therapy lessens the severity of sickness symptoms and encourages the production of oxytocin, a hormone that makes people feel happy. Hugging and other forms of physical contact are often good at reducing stress and improving blood flow. Lewin’s theory, on the other hand, contends that both individuals and groups are part of the forces that uphold the status quo, and as a result, the process of change is fraught with difficulties.
Keywords: touch, tenderness, acceptance, warmth, and comprehension
INTRODUCTION
More research using an evidence-based approach is needed to determine whether using physical contact with patients as a form of therapy is appropriate. Physical contact may be considered permissible and even advantageous in some circumstances. Therefore, nurses should exhibit their understanding of the environment and be able to discriminate between situations where physical contact is advised and others where it should be discouraged. While giving a patient a hug or other physical contact in some settings might be highly inappropriate, doing so in other contexts, such as geriatric care, would improve the patient’s health outcomes and overall sense of wellbeing by making them feel loved, valued, and recognized.