Back Rubs

Nurses General Nursing

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Just curious, do nurses give patients back rubs any longer?

That was one of my favorite therapeutic interventions 'back-in-the day'. That was before DRGS and short stays, when a patient could spend days or weeks on hard, vinyl covered mattresses and backs got sore.

Patients really responded to a good rub and were so grateful for it.

Specializes in cardiac.

I can't stand giving a patient a back rub, it gives me the creeps. Unless they're old and have very sore backs, I REALLY don't like the intimate contact. Maybe that's because usually the ones asking are males aged 40-55 and I don't like it one bit.

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I can't stand giving a patient a back rub, it gives me the creeps. Unless they're old and have very sore backs, I REALLY don't like the intimate contact. Maybe that's because usually the ones asking are males aged 40-55 and I don't like it one bit.

Ew, ya... it's usually those same patients who want help using their urinal...

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Tele.

If the night is slow I will give back rubs. The patients just love it. The aids give back rubs with PM care also.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Tele.
I can't stand giving a patient a back rub, it gives me the creeps. Unless they're old and have very sore backs, I REALLY don't like the intimate contact. Maybe that's because usually the ones asking are males aged 40-55 and I don't like it one bit.

Thats pretty sad...

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

I'm not often on the floors anymore, except when teaching. (I work ER) But yes, I've done back rubs lately. A simple back rub is different from a massage, which involved stripping down and working every muscle group. A back rub tends to be shoulders, upper back, and neck. It calms people wonderfully, helps circulation, and gives some one on one time for the person. Time restraints usually don't allow for it, but to someone in distress the human contact can make a difference. It doesn't have to be on bare skin.

Giving lotion after a bath should be routine, and rubbing it in was part of lab during nursing fundamentals. How to assess for red spots, tenderness, how to avoid bony ridges, etc. Great opportunity for palpating and inspecting skin.

How is giving the comfort of human touch any more up close and personal than say, putting in a Foley?

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Specializes in cardiac.

The comfort of human touch is one thing. Giving a back rub to an able-bodied 40 year old man who can get up and roam the halls at will is something I don't want to do. Putting in a foley is vastly different. Obviously you are not visualizing the same type of patient I am. I said I don't have a problem with it if they're old and have bad backs but if their request makes me feel creeped out, you can bet there's a reason.

"Thats pretty sad": do feel free to elaborate.

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Specializes in Home Care, Primary care NP, QI, Nsg Adm.

Seems like a generation gap on this issue.

We were taught and expected to give back rubs as part of PM care. Adjust the draw sheet, change the blue pads if necessary, offer juice, jello and saltines. Last time I did that was in 1979. Went to the ER after my first year in med/surge.

A patient may certainly be able-bodied and I would agree that a young patient in for a minor procedure or diagnostics for example may not be a candidate for a rub and one must assess the interaction. If a nurse feels the interaction has a tone of inappropriateness to it, then avoid it. But, I recall many older patients (some were my age now....how time has passed) who needed that simple rub. Personally, when I felt them relax and the relief they felt I felt a sense of satisfaction. It was really "hands-on" and that was my orientation to nursing back in the 70's. Has that changed with increasing use and reliance on technology?

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Tele.
The comfort of human touch is one thing. Giving a back rub to an able-bodied 40 year old man who can get up and roam the halls at will is something I don't want to do. Putting in a foley is vastly different. Obviously you are not visualizing the same type of patient I am. I said I don't have a problem with it if they're old and have bad backs but if their request makes me feel creeped out, you can bet there's a reason.

"Thats pretty sad": do feel free to elaborate.

elaboration:

It shouldn't matter who the patient is. It makes people feel good, and it is still one of the best nursing measures. It's one of the few things that we can do to make a patient a lot more comfortable (without an order) I can understand if the 40 yr old man is asking for help with the urinal, but a simple back rub is not a big deal, and that is MY opinion.

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A back rub is too personal to me. I wouldn't want a stranger giving me one, unless it a pro massage (haven't even had one of those yet ever in my life), nor do I give them as a nurse. I do use therapeutic touch on the arm/shoulder to reassure a Pt., but that's about it.

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Specializes in Home Care, Primary care NP, QI, Nsg Adm.

When I started in nursing the back rub was part of PM care and expected to be offered to patients. The suggestion of impropriety was not there and I never recall it coming up.

Is it part of nursing education today and an expectation for in-hospital patients?

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I am happy to say it is part of my nursing routine to rub down backs after a bedbath and on my bedridden patients, with each turn. I think of how my back would feel in a bed for 24 hours a day for several days. Even the patients that get oob and wash themselves, I offer to wash their backs and then I throw a little lotion on. 98% are not only suprised but are thankful. It is the "small" things we do as nurses that make people feel better.

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It's not like the patients demand a back rub or that we are required by our employers to provide spa services. If you are already washing a patient or helping them prepare for bed, it just takes an extra minute or two to grab a little lotion and rub it on their backs. It really makes a big difference to patients who have been in bed for days after a major illness or surgery. It's something small that helps them feel better and in turn makes them feel better about their recovery.

applying lotion, imo, is not the same as working the back.

Yeah, I agree. I definitely put lotion on my patients' backs but I could see where the back rub would make me and potentially the patient very uncomfortable.

i generally agree.

The comfort of human touch is one thing. Giving a back rub to an able-bodied 40 year old man who can get up and roam the halls at will is something I don't want to do. Putting in a foley is vastly different. Obviously you are not visualizing the same type of patient I am. I said I don't have a problem with it if they're old and have bad backs but if their request makes me feel creeped out, you can bet there's a reason.

"Thats pretty sad": do feel free to elaborate.

backrubs were taught to us as well, when i went to school in the 90's.

however, i did not implement them in my care.

although i am a big proponent of therapeutic touch, backrubs aren't comfortable for me.

i don't even apply lotion on my pt's backs...gets too sweaty when laying supine.

i do apply lotion on feet and massage...

and will massage specific muscle groups that are in spasm.

but back rubs?

no thank you.

and no, it is NOT sad.

leslie

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