Meanings of giving touch in the care of older patients: becoming a valuable person and professional

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Nursing
• Main Authors: David Edvardsson, Jan, Sandman, Per‐Olof, Rasmussen, Birgit H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2702.2003.00754.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1365-2702.2003.00754.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-2702.2003.00754.x

Summary • Touch is central to nursing and health care workers frequently touch their patients, consciously or unconsciously in their interactions with them. Most literature has studied touch from a patient perspective, thus inquiry about professionals' experiences are rare. • The aim of this study was to illuminate meanings of giving touch in nursing care of older patients. • To understand the meaning of lived experiences of giving touch in care of older patients, interviews with 12 health care professionals in northern Sweden were analysed using a phenomenological–hermeneutic approach influenced by the philosophy of Ricoeur. • The findings show that giving touch in the care of older patients is a transforming experience, where one suddenly perceives oneself as both a valuable person and professional who no longer powerlessly confronts patients' haunted and disrupted bodies, but who, by means of touch, has gained power to ease this suffering. • The experience also transforms the way one regards older patients. Instead of seeing a severely demanding patient suffering from dementia and/or pain, one is able to see the person behind the disease as a human being, like oneself. • A relationship described as calm, friendly and humane is created between caregiver and patient when giving touch, a relationship that transcends the moment of touch and influences one's way of caring. This understanding is presented using the theoretical framework of the philosophy of Marcel. • Giving touch has the power to shed new light on health care professionals' experiences of caring for older patients suffering from dementia and/or pain, giving them the power to be a valuable person and professional.