Healing Touch Literature Review

The compassion and care that Jersey College of Nursing has engrained in me runs deep within me and serves a guiding light. During my clinical experiences, I was determined to apply the training I have received at Jersey College of Nursing. It is my goal to make the lives of others more pleasant by means of a simple greeting or question such as “how is your day today?” I have learned what it really means to be a nurse; it is much more than the physical healing of a patient. An excellent nurse is aware of the mental, spiritual and physical needs of both her patients and her fellow

In my nursing practice I frequently care for long term elderly residents on ventilators and who suffer from stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers, diabetic, venous ulcers etc. Instead of simply providing pain medications and wound treatment to ease their pain or giving medications to relax them, I wanted to learn ways to enhance the comfort of these residents. This led me to learn more about Katherine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort. I found her theory to be useful in understanding the theory of comfort. Hence as a nurse, it became important for me to analyze, evaluate and research more on its applicability in the world of nursing and also in other health care disciplines.

Patient’s stay in the hospital can become a pleasant experience when nurses let them create their healing environment. Billadeau (2013) writes about her experience during her recovery at a skilled-care facility following a surgery to remove a malignant melanoma in her foot. She realized that, “the staff were all kind and wanted her to recover”…and “they commented on the uplifting music, and the nice lavender/lemon smell in our room””. This was a challenging but pleasant experience for her because “I focused on my own healing environment” (Billadeau, 2013).

may need to be done with a larger sample and a wider range of patient stressors

“A healing hospital is a place characterized by thousands of small and wonderful things and a few big ones. At the center is love. More than anything else, supports a strong culture of caring. It expresses the deep passion of both patients and caregivers” (Chapman, 2003). Healing hospitals focus on patient-centered care.

Self-Care. Self-care is a crucial part of holistic nursing. As holistic nurses in practice, we should protect our personal health and safety in order to have the sustenance to be able to effectively and therapeutically care for others. Coping mechanisms are an immense help when it comes to preventing burnouts. A study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing (2015) examined 38 Pediatric ICU nurses who participated in a 5-minute mindfulness meditation before each work-shift for one month to investigate change in nursing stress, burnout, self-compassion, mindfulness, and job satisfaction. This exploration found that brief interventions that support on-the-job self-care and stress-reduction might prove useful in critical care hospital settings. Death and dying is something that is experienced throughout the human experience, yet in a beautiful twist everyone’s experiences with the process are different. On a stroke unit death sweeps the census on a regular basis. As a leader on my unit I have to be in tune with the nurses I am working with as well as the families who maybe struggling with the decision to change a code status to DNR, to cease escalation of care, or maybe to participate in organ donation, to ensure that my nurses remain professional and empathetic and the families are accommodated appropriately. It is important for

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

The Health Foundation (2014) states that ‘Person-Centred Care show an important way to make the patient feel involved in their own care’. If the patient has control over their own body and mind, then they will have an understanding of what is happening to them. Person-centred care is in place for the patients, staff and families all to get involved in the planning, care and discharge. It involves compassion which is important in a nurse’s role as the patient enters unfamiliar territory. All staff needs to consider the patients respect and dignity is upheld, with closing curtains, covering up the patient and asking for consent to enter the patient’s bed space.

Healing Hospitals have specific components that comprise their makeup. They are” 1) A healing physical environment, 2) The integration of work design and technology. 3) A culture of radical loving care” (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, n.d.). These three components intermingled with spiritualty makes up the basis for the healing hospital.

When a patient enters the healthcare setting the primary focus is the process of helping the patient get better. Patient care has emerged into the healing hospital paradigm. This new focus is on patient care and not just the disease process. Healthcare organizations are now recognizing that the latest research demonstrates the benefits of a healing environment. Healthcare providers need to reach people on a personal level. The concept of the healing hospital paradigm research reveals that specific design changes in healthcare

She started examining the physiological outcome of a healer named Oscar Estebany. The health of patient treated by this healer with therapeutic touch irrespective of their physiologic conditions improved. In 1971, a pilot study was carried out on two groups. The study group had TT and the control group had none. Both groups’ hemoglobin was tested before and after the study, the result showed an increase in hemoglobin level in the group that had TT and no change in hemoglobin with the control group. Another study conducted in 1979 where TT was applied on patient who had electroencephalogram, electromyography and electrooculography, results showed patients were fully relaxed with improvement in symptoms during follow up appointments. Further research done by Quinn 1982 through 1992, using qualitative and quantitative methods indicated that therapeutic touch increases hemoglobin level, induces physiologic relaxation, reduces pain and anxiety as well as accelerated wound healing process, improved affection , reduces inflammatory process and alteration in immunological set limits. Quinn (1993) study shows positive effect on psychoimmunological response on the lymphocyte configuration.

A healing hospital is a healing community providing radical loving care (Journal of Sacred Work, 2009) in a safe environment that focuses on human interaction, interpersonal caring and enhancing the wellbeing of patients, caregivers, and all other members of the healing community. While a healing hospital is, of course, dedicated to providing excellent medical care to its patients (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, 2012), it is also dedicated to integrating work design and technology (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, 2012), and ultimately to the overall wellness of every healing community member. Using physical healing, education and supportive human interaction, this care model seeks healing on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels for everyone involved in the process (Zarren, n.d., pp. 1-2). The success of this model requires the cooperation of every

toward wholeness of body, mind and spirit, as well as assist people in recovery from illness or in

Dolores Krieger RN and Dora Kunz discovered the nursing technique called therapeutic touch and it emerged in the early 1970s. Therapeutic touch is energy therapy that is said to facilitate healings and reduce any pain or anxiety a person is facing. Therapeutic touch is an interpretation of multiple ancient healing practices that is supposed to reduce a person’s suffering. This is a healing technique is also commonly used as a nursing technique that does not have any type of contact. In the online articled named, Further Notes on Therapeutic Touch, the author Kevin Courcey, R.N., states that, “…the original protocol was based on actual physical touch [3], subsequent research claimed that similar results could be obtained without touching the

Nurses that listen to their patients, not only notice that they are physically hurt, but they can also notice their emotional wounds. The empathy of knowing that the patient is emotionally hurt is part of the spirituality connection. Therefore, they might need comfort. O’Brien (2001) states that, “ No other profession provides the opportunity to touch and be touched by the human spirit as does the practice of nursing. It is this intimacy that calls us to reverence: reverence for God as our creator and Lord…” (pg.110). Nurses have the privilege to connect with people in ways that no other profession may be able to provide. Since nurses are patients advocate, our duty is to connect them with their spiritual beliefs and