The POWER of TOUCH

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

i read this in one of my nursing journals during my break, and felt the need to share it with all of you~

the most powerful healing tool gets lost in the background to the buzzing, beeping, clicking and shuffling. the rhythms of a nursing unit set the pace of the day. an alarm sounding, a timer beeping, and a monitor blipping. rush, rush, rush to the next task at hand, all the while treating our patients like another piece of equipment. i too am guilty of this sin. i get caught up in the moment. i worry about time. i am mindful of the roar.

thankfully, i had the pleasure of getting back to the basics the other day at work. due to staffing needs / wants and census changes at the drop of a hat i was floated to a neighboring unit to function as a nurse aide. it's no secret how i feel about that job and the angels that perform their duties on a daily basic, so stepping into their shoes was a great opportunity to maintain my perspective.

i was reminded how powerful the art of 'touch' can be. during my shift, i lost count on how many bed baths i gave. most of the bed baths were done at light speed by the end of the morning, but the first few of bed baths i was able to take my time.

during the bed bath i was able to chat with my patients, learn about them, talk with them about any and everything that was on their mind. i was also able to help alleviate many fears and concerns they were having about their hospital stay.

i can't say i give the greatest bed baths. heck, i'd be willing to admit i'm actually quite horrible at it (to this day i can never hold the darn hand towel correctly!). what i am good at is having a soft hand and light touch. it's a dying art in the present fast-paced world. but, having the ability to move a patient correctly, safely and gently holds more value to the patient than we care to admit. one of the greatest compliments i got that day at work was from an elderly gentlemen who was making a slow recovery from a life-changing surgery recently. as i was cleaning up my 'mess' of dirty linens and tidying up his room he reached out his hand gesturing me to come closer. he took hold of my forearm ever so gently with his frail but firm hand and said, "thank you. you did a good job".

i gotta tell ya. i don't think i've ever smiled longer.

i'm not sure he realized how powerful his touch was for me.

[macgirl]

That's awesome, makes me teary...

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

give your fellow stressed out nurse a hand rub. Maybe you will be lucky enough to get one in return

[Jackfackmasta, ASN, RN]

I had my first day of clinical last wends and we started with 1 patient to get familiar though I wanted all four now. I was able to spend time doing the more basic nursing skills.

I had a 96 year old woman. Sweetest as can be. Best patient. I asked her if she would like to take a shower that day and her face lit up. I helped her to the bathroom and as I was changing her sheets and watching her she was stating how good the shower felt and saying thank you over and over. She was so happy to have a warm shower.

Later I was helping my nurse with another Pattie. I do not know what his diagnosis was but he was cognitively challenged. I fed him his breakfast and he would every once in a while say something random that I could not understand but he would not answer questions when asked. I brushed his teeth afterwards with sponge tips and when I said "we're finished" he said thank you! and he had a huge grin on his face. That tickled my heart to know something so simple means so much to patients. :hrnsmlys:

[chaybraza]

Very touching. All of us nurses are guilty of that some way or the other. Tender Loving Care does the trick almost all the time.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

i'm totally impressed by all of the entries so far, and thank you for sharing your own experiences...have a great weekend... ciao~