Patients wants a back rub

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How did the bedtime back rub come to be associated with nurses? MANY years ago I was doing agency staffing. I got called in to a very fancy private hospital to do a shift. One of my assigned patients rang the call bell. When I went into the room she wanted her "bedtime back rub." Being young and eager to please I gave her a back rub, but the whole thing felt really icky to me. Was there a time when nurses were night time massage people?

When I've been a patient, I was more concerned with not receiving medication for pain, indicated procedures/treatment, and even food, before I ever had a chance to worry about a back rub or hygiene needs. After surgery, I dragged myself to the shower in spite of seeing or to be more accurate, not seeing any personnel around my room, because I could not stand how much I needed a shower. A family member was present to make sure I did not pass out during the adventure.

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I have been a nurse for 26 years and when I started in my career that was part of a evening rounds asking patients if they wanted a back rub. It was a good time to listen to lung sounds, access skin, and help with pain management. I think it's sad that this tradition has gone away.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Home Health, ECF.
That blows me away. Bathing is basic care. If a patient can't stand in the shower, they get a bed or chair bath. Nursing 101. Don't tell me that's gone the way of the dodo. How to you assess skin integrity?

I'm feeling my age.

Yes, we are a few of the nurses from the past. I also have to say that I was in the same hospital for the same surgery 4 years prior to my previous post, and I was in ICU for 1 day and the nurse got me OOB and helped me bathe and I was able to brush my teeth and it made such a difference !
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Yep----back rubs were part of standard P.M./H.S. care. It relaxed patients before sleep (instead of tossing an Ambient down their gullet) and got the blood circulating to help reduce risk of bedsores. It's funny how today's nurses can't imagine giving a back rub to a patient----without gloves, even!! Touching a patient's skin is not going to do any harm as long as you wash you hands before & after. This is how healthcare SHOULD be----actually CARING for our patients in all ways, not just changing IV bags & giving meds. A 5 minute back rub does wonders for the mind & body.

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I think, given the litigious nature of healthcare and the sheer amount of work nurses are expected to do, bedtime back rubs will be considered a thing in the past.

And at the risk of sounding cold, but I had a patient who demanded a foot massage and I was kind of insulted, especially after I told her I needed to do a few things with my other patients. To me, offering a massage would just feed into the already prominent hotel/spa mentality that patients have about hospitals.

a

Actually, no, it didn't. Those were the days when nurses actually TOOK CARE OF PEOPLE!! I think a foot massage would be pushing it, but 25-30 years ago on med-surf floors, patients received back rubs H.S. all the time. Imagine this: Being on bedrest with your femur in traction 24/7, lying on your back 90% of the time & not being able to reach your back on your own. A back rub increases blood flow to the area, helps to relax the muscles & gives the nurse a perfect opportunity to assess skin condition. It feels a lot better than just swallowing a Percocet for back pain. Maybe if those types of "care" modalities were still practiced, people wouldn't be so reliant on narcotics to be comfortable. We also used to walk our post-op patients around the unit, give a REAL bed bath with soap & water & washcloth & towel, rub legs with lotion & all kinds of other "caring" things. Now, the most "caring" thing a nurse does is have a conversation with a patient---hands on care has pretty much faded away into oblivion.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
a

Actually, no, it didn't. Those were the days when nurses actually TOOK CARE OF PEOPLE!! I think a foot massage would be pushing it, but 25-30 years ago on med-surf floors, patients received back rubs H.S. all the time. Imagine this: Being on bedrest with your femur in traction 24/7, lying on your back 90% of the time & not being able to reach your back on your own. A back rub increases blood flow to the area, helps to relax the muscles & gives the nurse a perfect opportunity to assess skin condition. It feels a lot better than just swallowing a Percocet for back pain. Maybe if those types of "care" modalities were still practiced, people wouldn't be so reliant on narcotics to be comfortable. We also used to walk our post-op patients around the unit, give a REAL bed bath with soap & water & washcloth & towel, rub legs with lotion & all kinds of other "caring" things. Now, the most "caring" thing a nurse does is have a conversation with a patient---hands on care has pretty much faded away into oblivion.

This is deplorable. Basic hygiene is basic care. Anyone read Cancer Ward by Solzhenitzyn? In those Soviet hospitals families had to bring in food and even medication. Are we headed in that direction?

Wasn't cleanliness the first thing Florence Nightingale advocated? How on earth did that become unimportant? We're now harrassed to death about handwashing; now I realize why. Our poor patients must be crawling with more bugs than ever. Disgusting!

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I agree with the above posts on the importance of back rubs and assisting patients with bathing. During the first week first of my ADN program (over 20 years ago) prior to starting clinicals the next week providing total care we were taught that we could offer to rub a patient's back with lotion, and were instructed in the most effective way to do this. I remember a patient greatly appreciating this; she said it really felt good after lying in bed. Patients also expressed how much better they felt when they were bathed/assisted with bathing/offered a toothbrush and toothpaste, helped into a clean gown, and had their bed linen changed. Patient ratios were high, but bathing and linen changes were considered a very important part of a patient's morning care, and even with short staffing patients received this care. I am very sorry to see in recent years that this is no longer the case, both from the point of view of a patient's comfort, cleanliness, and dignity, and from the point of view of hygiene.

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Specializes in ER.

We don't even have lotion available. I'm in the ER, but we always have admitted patients waiting to go upstairs. I detest backrubs, they make me uncomfortable, but a good foot soak/massage can make people feel pampered.

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I must be doing something wrong. I do post op sponge baths, it's required by our surgery programme.

we are also expected to change the bedding daily.

I draw the line at feet. No way will they be massaged. Checked for swelling and bogginess in the bed bound, but no massage.

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We learned to do them in CNA school. However, as a nurse I rarely have time to do massages. If someone asks if I can rub a certain part I do but in between my starting load and discharges, admits and post surgicals there are not enough hours.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
I'm all for "touch" when it has a truly therapeutic indication. I do work with a couple of nurses who like to give out "touch" a bit more freely and often share with me on report how much their patient benefited from the massage they gave them (and that this is why they left the trip to CT for me to do). Maybe because I'm a male nurse, male patients sometimes feel it's OK to share their true views on the massage they just got, which essentially involves explaining how they just experienced a real life Media-cliche.

I would not be comfortable giving a back rub. I for one am glad that this has fallen by the wayside. Although, in a bid to improve Press Ganey scores, it wouldn't surprise me if administration reinstated them, along with Happy Endings..😂🙄

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I think it's a thing of the past, when people weren't chained to their computers and phones and pagers. When I was in clinicals in 2012, I rubbed an older woman's feet because she was mostly immobile, I needed to wash them, and she was sweet. So after her "bath" she got lotion and a foot rub (with gloves). Her old lady companion requested one too, which was not so much my job. Seeing as she wasn't a patient. I don't do bedside nursing, though I'm a touchy person and will hold my patient's hand as they go under anesthesia, or put my hands on their leg to reassure them. I don't disagree with it, but we as nurses don't have time. Plus, it's always the creeps that want it. And I don't think it's required at ANY facility. Therapeutic or no, if you're not okay with it because of culture or personal preference, just say NO.

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