In addition to analgesics, therapeutic touch can help the nurse to provide patients with the care and support that they deserve. Contrary to the layman belief, therapeutic touch consists of more than simply hugging or touching someone’s shoulder. Therapeutic touch “is a healing modality that involves touching with the intent to help or heal. Therapeutic touch decreases anxiety, facilitates healing, and relieves pain” (Ignatavicius, Workman, & Mishler, 1999, 39). Therapeutic touch looks at the patient holistically and assumes that one is an energy field. TT mobilizes areas in the patient’s energy field that are not flowing correctly. The practitioner’s body is used to facilitate in redirecting the

Susan Peck conducted a “two-group longitudinal design” study involving the use of TT in the elderly population (Peck, 1998, 1250. She attempted to identify “whether the administration of TT to elders with degenerative arthritis improved functional ability” (Peck, 1998, 124). Her study suggests that TT treatments improve the functional ability of elders with degenerative arthritis, thereby making it easier for them to carry out their activities of daily living. The 108 participants, who were randomly selected for either the experimental group or the control group, served as their own baseline for the first four weeks (Peck, 1998, 125-30).

Ninety subjects completed this study. There was one nurse administering the TT treatments and one nurse administering the MT treatments. Each treatment was twenty minutes in length. Setting a certain length for treatments avoid biases based on how much time the practitioner spent with the participants. Pain, anxiety, and salivary cortisol were measured at set intervals to evaluate whether or not the TT treatments were successful. The numeric rating scale was used to assess the subject’s level of pain. This instrument avoids language barriers and is easy to use (Lin et al., 1998, 156-60). The STAI which measured anxiety was problematic because participants felt that “repeated completion of the STAI was stressful and that the questions were irrelevant to their pain” (Lin, et al., 1998, 160). It is possible that the results were affected by the frustration experienced by the participants while completing this measurement tool.

Although more research is needed to determine the efficacy of TT, thus far it seems to have a promising outcome. TT seems to help control the patient’s level of pain and anxiety. The duration of the relief from pain and anxiety should be studied to determine how long the patient would benefit from treatments. If the effects only last for a short time then the cost of TT treatments may not outweigh its benefit. It is difficult to have a truly rigorous study when studying TT. TT treatments rely on the practitioner’s level of concentration and their intentions, both of which are difficult to control in a study.

Turner, Clark, Gauthier, and Williams conducted a study, which suggests that therapeutic touch can assist the nurse in controlling the level of pain and anxiety experienced by burn patients. Turner et al set out to study if therapeutic touch (TT) could produce a lower level of pain and a lower level of anxiety. The sample was made as representative as possible of the target population by setting limits on who was allowed to participate in the study. An eligible subject was one who was hospitalized for severe burns and was between the ages of fifteen and sixty-eight. The sample was also controlled for portion of the body area burned, disabilities, level of cognitive and psychiatric functioning, and length of hospital stay (Turner et al., 1998, 12-13).

“The subjective feeling of physical and emotional comfort with the following characteristics: absence of pain, nausea, depression, anxiety, and shortness of breath, as well as the presence of activity, appetite, relaxation, and inner peace.” (Giasson & Bouchard, 1998, 387).

Data was collected using the Well-Being Scale. This scale was used because the visual format is easy for the subjects to understand and therefore doesn’t cause the participants any extra anxiety. Because members of the experimental group showed an increased level of well-being, this study suggests that cancer patients who undergo

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