Patients wants a back rub

Nurses Relations

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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?

Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
Lol I'm curious exactly what you said.

Conversation more or less went like this ...

ME: "What? Absolutely not! I don't do that."

PATIENT: "My feet hurt, I'm in pain. You're saying that you won't massage my feet to relieve my pain?"

ME: "Nope. Not doing it."

PATIENT: "The other nurses have done it."

ME: "You're dealing with me tonight. And I'm not doing that. Good night!" [shuts door]

I used to be the type of person long ago that had trouble saying NO. Something snapped along the way, I guess I got tired of people using me and now it's not something I have problems doing. Especially this woman. And had she complained about my refusal it would be attributed to the craziness she had already established with staff. I was never approached about it lol.

She was extremely demanding and was always on the call button. She would come out into the hallway and yell out "Where's my nurse?" (Mind you, she was isolation too), claims she's been waiting 20 minutes since the call bell was rung, when it was really 2 minutes. Always complaining about staff not giving in to her outrageous requests and ridiculous meal orders. I remember once telling her (had her multiple times during her 45-day stay): "If you hate it here so much, why don't you just go to another hospital? You have that option. We are not the only ones in the area." Her reply: "Because I'm here."

The way I was with this patient mind you is definitely NOT typical of how I treat my other patients! That woman was a serious mental case. I've never had anyone else in my career so taxing in patient care.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Home Health, ECF.
Now the last time I was in the hospital I was told I wasn't allowed to shower and was given no other alternative for bathing and had a note left on my bedside tablet explaining that they don't change sheets except when visibly soiled because "the environment" and no one even straightened the ones I had at any point.

That happened to me also when I was a patient. I washed in the bathroom after I could get someone to carry the stuff in there to bathe. My sheets were not changed unless soiled. No one even took off my TEDS and put them back on. But I must say I did get good nursing care. Back rubs and baths aren't priorities anymore because staff are just too busy ( charting in the EMRs, filling out reports, etc. )

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
That happened to me also when I was a patient. I washed in the bathroom after I could get someone to carry the stuff in there to bathe. My sheets were not changed unless soiled. No one even took off my TEDS and put them back on. But I must say I did get good nursing care. Back rubs and baths aren't priorities anymore because staff are just too busy ( charting in the EMRs, filling out reports, etc. )

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.

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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, no bathing any more, and no linen changes. I've seen this for several years now. My family member was given a complimentary personal hygiene kit they were too sick to use (not that anyone offered to get them a basin with water, washcloth, towels, soap, etc), and they lay in the same sheets until I helped them with their hygiene and managed to find some clean sheets to change their bed.

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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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