Meaning of touch to hospitalized Puerto Ricans with cancer

This ethnographic study was undertaken to elicit the meaning of nurse's touch for hospitalized Puerto Rican patients with cancer. The key informants were eight cancer patients at a tertiary 12-bed oncology research unit in Puerto Rico. Data gathering methods included participant observation and several ethnographic interviews during a month period. Content analysis was used to identify pattern of behavior and meaning. Analysis of the field notes and interviews was done to search for domains. Theme analysis was used in the search for the relationship among domains. In the analysis of the patient interviews, two types of touch were identified: procedural and affective touch. The predominant theme about perception of nurse's touch was that of conveying confidence. Confidence was related to the patient's increase in positive expectation as much as the possibility of recovery from the cancer illness. The confidence theme was represented by two domains: the enhancement of the abilities of the patient for coping and through the acceptance of the patient as a person during their illness experience.