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Caring touch as communication in intensive care nursing: a qualitative study
Lise Sandnes1, Lisbeth Uhrenfeldt2,3
1Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway.
Intensive care nurses use communicative caring touch to convey safety, presence, and trust to patients. This non-verbal communication enhances the human element in high-technology environments, fostering relationships and respecting dignity.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Qualitative Research
- Patient Care
Background:
- Intensive care environments are highly technological.
- Non-verbal communication is crucial for patient well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore intensive care nurses' experiences with communicative caring touch.
- To understand what nurses communicate through touch.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative hermeneutical study.
- Individual, semi-structured interviews with eight specialist nurses.
- Data collected from two Norwegian intensive care units.
Main Results:
- Caring touch communicates safety, presence, security, trust, and care.
- It creates and confirms relationships, respecting patient dignity.
- Touch conveys a human initiative amidst technology.
Conclusions:
- Caring touch is a silent yet powerful communication method in critical care.
- It conveys care, hope, strength, and humanity to critically ill patients.
- This phenomenon is common but underexplored in intensive care nursing.
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