Therapeutic touch in nursing care: a conceptual analysis

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the concept of therapeutic touch in nursing care, specifying its attributes, antecedents, and consequents. Methods: This is a conceptual analysis of the evolutive view of Rodgers (2000), about the concept of therapeutic touch in nursing care, together with an integrative literature review based on the research question: What is the concept of therapeutic touch in nursing care? What are the attributes, antecedents, and consequents of therapeutic touch in nursing care? The search was conducted in the electronic databases CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete, Nursing & Allied Health Collection: Comprehensive, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, MedicLatina, in the b-on Online Knowledge Library, by combining the descriptors DeCS/MESH “therapeutic touch”, “nursing” e “nursing care” and the Boolean operator AND over the period from 2000 to 2020. Results: The sample was composed of eight studies that identified three thematic pillars: (i) attributes: complementary and effective method, technique, tool, nursing intervention, use of hands, intention to help or heal, complementary treatment, intentional touch, and energy transfer; (ii) antecedents: pain, anxiety, fatigue, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, tension headache, fibromyalgia syndrome, and cardiovascular problems; (iii) consequents: promotes a calming effect; increases empathy, satisfaction, interaction, respect, sense of worth and life; promotes well-being, comfort, tranquility and peace, hope, security, motivation, mood and sleep quality; reduces stress and disruptive behaviors; promotes better functional status and quality of life. Conclusion: Therapeutic touch is implicit in the professional practice of nurses, requiring concrete and unique adjustment to the real circumstances and needs of the person, towards a practice that promotes comfort.