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The meaning of caring touch for healthcare professionals in an intensive care unit: A qualitative interview study
L Karlsson1, J Rosenqvist1, F Airosa2
1Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Växjö County Hospital, Sweden.
Background:
The way health care professionals touch patients and relatives in the intensive care unit plays a significant role. A negative feeling can be caused by being touched in the wrong way, this is why a holistic approach with respect for the patient is important for the ability to make the patient and their relatives feel secure, avoiding unnecessary suffering.
Aim:
The aim of the study was to describe the meaning of caring touch that is given in the ICU from the health care professionals perspective.
Method:
Qualitative interview study with health care professionals in the intensive care unit, analysed using inductive content analysis, resulting in two themes and four main categories.
Findings:
Two themes emerged: Imperative touch and emotional touch and four main categories: touch as a natural tool, create a prerequisite for touch, empathetic touch and conversant touch.
Conclusion:
Caring touch can be used as a natural tool in the daily work in order to bring comfort and calm to the patient in the intensive care unit.
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