Do you ever massage your patients?

Nurses General Nursing

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I had a confused pt. during a shift who would frequently call out for help. She was extremely forgetful. I decided to give her a shoulder, neck, and back rub and this really seemed to help her calm down a little.

I also remember a time I had a male patient who was feeling anxious - I gave him a back, shoulder and neck rub too. About 2 hours later he calls me and tells me his butt is sore - I'm like "ughh ... let me see what you have ordered PRN"

I never learned about massages in school - something I picked up on allnurses.com and I am sooo grateful for!

Thanks

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Specializes in Diabetes ED, (CDE), CCU, Pulmonary/HIV.

I used to use massage often when I worked as a floor nurse. I think human touch goes a long way to help a pt. relax and feel calm. It's too bad the nurse doesn't often have time to give a short massage -- something that used to be a regular part of hs care.

:nurse:

:balloons:

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Specializes in DIALYSIS, ICU/CCU, ONCOLOGY, CORRECTIONS.
I had a confused pt. during a shift who would frequently call out for help. She was extremely forgetful. I decided to give her a shoulder, neck, and back rub and this really seemed to help her calm down a little.

I also remember a time I had a male patient who was feeling anxious - I gave him a back, shoulder and neck rub too. About 2 hours later he calls me and tells me his butt is sore - I'm like "ughh ... let me see what you have ordered PRN"

I never learned about massages in school - something I picked up on allnurses.com and I am sooo grateful for!

Thanks

Back in the day, back rubs were part of PM care. This was in the 70's before nursing staffing crisis, DRG's, and corporate hospitals.

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Specializes in NICU.

We have a massage therapist at our hospital. We usually consult them on our patients who have been there for a while, or for any patient we think would benefit.

Tiger

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Back in the day, back rubs were part of PM care. This was in the 70's before nursing staffing crisis, DRG's, and corporate hospitals.

We had a massage lab back in LPN school (early 80's). It was expected as part of HS care. By the time I made it into an RN program in '86, it wasn't even mentioned.

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the back rub was one of the first things we were taught in nsg school (mid 90's).

unfortunately, the majority of my pts cannot stand being touched.

even if their pain is well-controlled, they fear the mere thought of it.

at best, i can massage their feet with lotion.

leslie

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The mere human gentle touch may be all you have time for and let me say from my own experiences as a nurse, nothing works faster or better at times than stroking someones hand or smoothing their hair back a few times. I have seen agitated dementia patients(anyone had one before?) actually become more coherent and cooperative and even relaxed after I rub their hands or stroke their arm for a minute or less. I think we only touch people when we have to to do our tasks(BP, assessments, IV pokes) that we forget to touch when we do not have to, just because it is a kind and theraputic thing to do.

I vote for gentle touch, I wouldn't massage someone unless I have been their nurse for awhile because some might misinterpret it. plus not much time for that with all those others to take charge over.

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My daughter had her baby 2 years ago; she STILL talks about the nurse who stroked her hair. That was so incredibly soothing for her.

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My daughter had her baby 2 years ago; she STILL talks about the nurse who stroked her hair. That was so incredibly soothing for her.

Mothers(and dads) do this with their babies and children and I remember feeling soothed when my mom used to do this to me when I was sick. It still works on me!

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I read somewhere that a back massage before bed usually helps your pt sleep better than drugs do. I never got to test it though. But I did have this little confused lady that wouldn't calm down. So I took about 20 min, and gave her a hand and arm massage, and just talked with her. I didn't have any problems with her. The nurse did, but she listened to me after her massage!! It really does relax people. I even see it in my babies I care for.

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I'm a Zen Shiatsu therapist so yes patients (clients) come to my office for some touch. When I was in the hospital I used it a lot depending on the workload. You can usually be safe doing hands and feet.

We had a lady once who had rectal/lady partsl surgery and the doc had written orders one am saying she could go home soon as she had a BM. Her nurse told me that about 11pm and I went and worked on her and she had a BM ten minutes later. Her spouse was a magician and often entertained us with tricks at the nurse's station. I could not resist telling him, "bet you can't do that!"

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i'm a big proponent of touch.

i wouldn't feel comfortable giving a pt a back rub.

unless they were highly anxious, i'm not convinced of its benefit.

but to give an affectionate tousle, a gentle stroke, or a quick squeeze, i find, is therapeutic for the pt.

they seem to enjoy and appreciate the physical contact.

and it creates a connection betw nurse/pt.

i've been doing this since i started nsg, and have received a lot of positive feedback.

leslie

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