Back Rubs

[Saifudin]

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.

[paddlelady, BSN, RN]

Back in the day the long term patients or those that were hospitialized for a lengthy periods of time had of course dry skin due to metabolic changes. The back rubs, foot , elbows and hand rubs were called skin care. It was not a touchy feely thing at all. It was a necessity, this massage increased circulation to some of these areas . Plus the massage increases your endorphins (your very own morphine) and again some of these patients use less pain and sleeping meds. Physcial therapy uses massage along with ultrasound, cold laser, and various techniques for healing injuries. Cross fiber fiction is a type of massage that will break down scar tissue.Works great with ankle injuries and some surgical scars and other injured tissue. That is not touchy feely it is a necessity. One of my hospice patients all she wanted was someone to rub her shoulders. It made her feel still alive and calm at the same time. She wanted someone to hold her hand that is just human touch and caring. Not touchy feely.

Currently in peds we have infant massage to improve the high risk infants tactile stimulation and other things that I will not get into. Ambulatory patients of course would not get a massage due to the nature of that patient population. But massage does have its place. You dont have to be touchy feely. What about when we do wound care. I have done some pretty invasive wound care that is necessary. Have you ever opened up a chest in a tramus unit and used cardiac massage. That is saving a life and that was cardiac massage! When giving an injection to a frightened patient. Sometimes just rubbing the site takes their mind off what is going to happen. It works with kids and fightened folks. A little TLC goes a long way in our high stress society.

Massage is now a covered benefit with some insurance companies.

Again this may be a generation gap but caring accompained with knowledge and skill is a great reciepe for the nursing profession.

Paddlelady

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

I don't have a problem with Back Rubs or Foot Rubs. I find my Pt's enjoy them and are much more relaxed. I've actually had them line up in the hall for a shoulder massage. When I have the time, I will gladly preform this simple relaxing procedure. I do not give Body Massages to anyone other than my bf. My Pt's know there is nothing remotely inappropriate in what I do. And they are thankful for that little personal touch. We are after all a species that needs the contact and touch of those around us.

[mskate]

i do what i call "lubing up" my patients after i bath them - i think it helps with skin care and condition, over all. they will get a barrier type cream on their bottoms and a thicker lotion up their backs and across their shoulders their arms with a focus on their elbows and mid thigh down to their feet. I like them to look SHINY for a while after i'm done with them. people that come into the unit with hard callouses on their feet leave without them! hahaha

i also wash hair once a day and have a bottle of baby shampoo in my locker. if i have time for younger patients who are intubated, sedated, etc... - i will shave an arm pit, or their lower legs and I ask family to bring them in deodorant that they would use at home and maybe some lightly scented lotion.

i do for my patients what i would want done for me. I have had families tell me "she would be so mortified without make up on!" - then bring in some make up. i dont always have the time to put make up on my patient, but i have it there so if mom comes in and feels better if her daughter has some mascara on - or has painted toes - go for it. it gives them something to do.

i try to make a point to do things that will make my patient feel more comfortable. there are clearly situations in which lubing up a patient, shaving an armpit, etc... is not appropriate and there are times when i also do not have the time or they are too sick.

but we all have had a patient that needs a good fluff and puff, although i consider lotioning and lubing them up not to be fluffing and puffing, but to be skin care - done at least twice a day! i enjoy making them look, feel and smell better if i can! its different in an icu though, if i had a walkie talkie young patient, i probably wouldnt be giving them a bed bath - they could do it themselves.... but i'd still leave the lotion there if they wanted to use it on themselves.

[paddlelady, BSN, RN]

I also noticed with the TLC patients will open up with some of their problems and concerns and this is so good for discharge planning. There can be amazing trust when you touch someone in a professional caring manner. Patients feel that they are just not a patient but a person and they matter.

Paddlelady

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

They are still teaching back rubs in nursing school....even in the ER I have given them to elderly patients who are laying on stretchers or have trouble moving. Very few of the nurses I work with would even consider therapeutic touch, however I find it works wonders with the elderly sundowners, and those who have dementia or are just scared. WE have the leerers, the middle aged jerks and all the rest....we just send in the male nurses. You can't believe how fast any of that stops!

Other comforts: warm blankets, warm saline bags, and pillows make them feel good too!

[MuddaMia]

:chuckle

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

Here is an opinion from the other side.....

anything like that, that shows compassion, is appreciated. (something someone on this thread mentioned is warm blankets, I always love that)

to the person that says that rubbing the back of a stranger makes them uncomfortable, i do not see my nurses as strangers. I may not know them super well but they are not a stranger. if you see any part of my body naked, as nurses usually end up doing, i do not concider you a stranger anymore

[tfleuter, BSN, RN]

When I delivered my last son, I really messed up my upperarm/shoulder (probably from the pushing) and all the muscles in that area seemed to be burning. I remember waking up the next morning to the intense pain and couldn't believe how much it hurt. When I told my nurse about it, I was surprised when she offered to massage it and gratefully accepted. Even though it didn't take away all the pain, it did take the edge off and I really appreciated that she would do that for me.

Knowing how it made me feel makes me hope I will remember to find the time provide the same care for my patients once I am a nurse.

[ToxicShock]

As a former cosmetologist, I would have no problem helping out my future patients with a back, foot, hand, etc rub. There's a big difference between "can you please rub my back? I'm bed ridden and feel awful" and "hey can you rub my back, foxy mama nurse?". I personally don't find anything intimate or sexual about a back rub in a professional setting, but I can understand why others would feel uncomfortable.

I suppose it's all in the context and the vibe you get from the patient. I'm almost certain 90 year old Betty Sue's request for a back rub is legit. A strapping 20-something lad that has been ogling you all day, however, is completely different.

[paddlelady, BSN, RN]

Massage is like an analegisic it breaks the pain spasm cycle and enhances the bodys ability to release it 's endorphins. The endorphins are our very own morphine. So for the person with the shoulder problem what a nice natural way to reduce shoulder pain without having to introduce more pain meds.

Thanks for you post

Paddlelady

[Tait, MSN, RN]

As a former cosmetologist, I would have no problem helping out my future patients with a back, foot, hand, etc rub. There's a big difference between "can you please rub my back? I'm bed ridden and feel awful" and "hey can you rub my back, foxy mama nurse?". I personally don't find anything intimate or sexual about a back rub in a professional setting, but I can understand why others would feel uncomfortable.

I suppose it's all in the context and the vibe you get from the patient. I'm almost certain 90 year old Betty Sue's request for a back rub is legit. A strapping 20-something lad that has been ogling you all day, however, is completely different.

This was the first thing to make me smile since I woke up. :)

I love giving back rubs. Patients/co-workers whoever needs a quick 2 minute shoulder perk-up.

I have chronic shoulder and back pain, and have found over years (I used to be a favorite at my waitressing jobs as I could get a knot out in less that 2 minutes) that a quick massage makes my own pain feel better. There is something fulfilling in knowing what the pain feels like, and knowing that you are making that better for someone else.

When it comes to patients I use therapeutic touch where appropriate. When someone is teetering on the edge of the bed, stressed to all ends, I will run slow circles on their back with my palm. When someone has a tight shoulder I will give them a quick 2 min tissue massage on the affected area. Lotion on feet/legs/backs? Anytime! (If I have the time).

I think everyone has a different definition of "patient massage". For me it is just a quick, generally shoulders/arms bit of comforting touch.

Tait

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I don't mind slathering on some lotion to those who are confined to bed. I do that before sleep time to those who have trouble moving around, regardless of age. It gets the blood going and is good for their skin. I am not going to do a full blown massage, though. A quickie 2 minute slather and rub with lotion is one thing, a massage is another. I don't know the proper way to massage, anyway, as I am not a massage therapist.