HUGS?!

To me it truly depends on the patient. Personally I am not a hugging type person, unless it is someone I am really close to. But I have on a few occasions hugged patients or their family members.

I will hug a patient on occasion if they initiate the hug. I don't want to invade anyone's personal space w/o their permission.

It depends on the cleanliness of the patient since I work in emergency services. If i truly am grossed out about their level of hygiene I will tell them I cannot because of infection control.

If you do have a nice clean patient that is huggable I will do it if I am comfortable, kinda gives you that warm fuzzy feeling I guess, like you made a difference in their life.

I once had a patient, while in nursing school, ask me to give him a full body massage. He was in his 60s and quite large and I was like . I would never give any patient any massage because I am just not comfortable doing that and it would just gross me out!

HPRN

. I once had a patient, while in nursing school, ask me to give him a full body massage. He was in his 60s and quite large and I was like . I would never give any patient any massage because I am just not comfortable doing that and it would just gross me out! HPRN

Eeew! Pervy. LOL.

It depends on the cleanliness of the patient since I work in emergency services. If i truly am grossed out about their level of hygiene I will tell them I cannot because of infection control.

If you do have a nice clean patient that is huggable I will do it if I am comfortable, kinda gives you that warm fuzzy feeling I guess, like you made a difference in their life.

I once had a patient, while in nursing school, ask me to give him a full body massage. He was in his 60s and quite large and I was like . I would never give any patient any massage because I am just not comfortable doing that and it would just gross me out!

HPRN

Easy. I didn't attend Massage therapy school and I would get fired for practicing out of my field.

Noooo. I have to be married to someone before I want to hug them. I think my body language makes that clear, so it's usually not an issue. On the rare occasion that someone doesn't "get it", I might lean in, quickly pat them on the back, and say "hug" before backing away. If they're creepy, I just cut right to the backing away part and let them know that nurses don't hug patients.

Well. . . I work in L&D and hug patients (and their family members) on a regular basis. Hugs range from a perfunctory pat to very emotional embraces. It's 100% situation-dependent. And of course, I provide whatever level of physical support women may need from me during labor, which can range from counter pressure to practically slow dancing with each other!

I've worked pedi my entire career... if my patient wants to hug me (instead of kick me in the face), I'm all for it.

It depends. I don't think it's flat-out, across the board verboten. You just pick and choose. I've had nurses hug me after clinical and I'm like, "oh, this is nice, I guess."

I'm a very huggy type person, so yes if a patient asked I would. Human contact is a very basic human need. It makes people feel better. Didn't you guys learn about touch and how therapeutic it is? Also, yes, nurses can give massages. Something we learned in fundamentals. It's part of their nighttime routine. Maybe not a whole body massage, but yes a patient can get one. On Maslows Hierarchy of Needs this ranks pretty high. Touch is a basic human need which can help in healing. I'm disappointed that people don't understand that.

In my current job I work with kids and we are strongly cautioned against touching them AT ALL for concerns the administration has of such an act being construed as inappropriate and likened to potential sexual abuse.

However, if one of my kids comes up to me in tears and is really having a rough time of it I will not hesitate to give them a shoulder hug, or if they hug me I will return it. Kids don't understand your reasoning when you work in that kind of facility, and I'm really not looking to confuse them.

I am not a very hug-friendly person. I don't know why but I am soooo awkward! However, if a patient that I have a good rapport with I probably wouldn't hesitate if they initiated it. I'm not going to just offer it up.

I have had a few nurses hug me (as a patient) but they were friends/co-workers of my mothers when I was hospitalized with (my many) complications with Crohn's disease in the past. Honestly... It was really comforting especially when there's so much going on. Many times, it was the one thing that prevented me from losing it (also have GAD and a panic disorder, of course).