The use of touch with the hospitalized psychiatric patient

A descriptive study was designed to identify and describe the ways in which registered nurses use nonprocedural touch in the inpatient psychiatric setting. Natural setting observation and nurse interviews were used to examine the decision-making process and intentions of nurses who used touch. Twenty-five incidents of nonprocedural touch initiated by 13 registered nurses with 17 psychiatric patients were recorded over 27.5 hours of observations. Touch was primarily used by nurses in a discriminating manner and for specific reasons, and was correlated with numerous factors such as the patient's age and gender, and the nurse's feelings, beliefs, intuition, and personal style.