Therapeutic Touch

Therapeutic Touch

Introduction

Therapeutic touch refers to the energy therapy that is commonly used in nursing culture to reduce pain and anxiety. A number of studies have been conducted to know the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in reducing the stress and anxiety level of the patients. Therapeutic touch is a massage therapy, and considered as the registered trademark in Canada. A number of journal articles supported the use therapeutic touch for the purpose of reducing anxiety and stress. The paper will confer the information and knowledge regarding the therapeutic touch. The paper will critique an article that focuses on the use of therapeutic touch for the purpose of reducing pain and anxiety in the patients. The study was conducted by Jackson, Kelley, McNeil, Meyer, Schlegel & Eaton in 2008, which described the effectiveness of therapeutic touch for the patients coping with anxiety and pain. Clinical journal of Oncology Nursing published this article in their 12th volume. The study selected the population of patients who were coping with the condition of cancer (Jackson, Kelley, McNeil, Meyer, Schlegel & Eaton, 2008).

Discussion

Abstract

The abstract of the study completely focused on the topic and described each and every factor that was discussed in the study. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in the reducing the level of stress and anxiety in the patients. Moreover, the study also focused on the population that was the patients coping with the condition of cancer. The abstract of the study also demonstrated the results of the study that was based on the research questions and methods.

Background

The background of the study described that the therapeutic touch is a well known treatment process in which hands are used to assist the healing process of the patients. The study further described that this therapy was initially introduced by Delores Kriegar and Dora Kuntz as an evidence based nursing intervention in reducing the anxiety and facilitating the healing process. The study also suggested that the process of therapeutic touch will surely help the cancerous patients to overcome their condition of stress and pain. The study also described that this topic will help the individuals to know about the effectiveness of therapeutic touch.

Research Question/Hypothesis

The hypothesis of the study was regarding the impact of therapeutic touch over the condition of stress and anxiety. It was clearly indicated by the authors that the study will only focus on the use of therapeutic touch for the symptoms of anxiety or pain. The research questions were not clearly mentioned; however the only research question was regarding the effectiveness of therapeutic touch for the condition of pain and anxiety in the patients coping with cancer. This research question is completely fulfilling the purpose of this study.

Review of the Literature

The literature review section of this study was focusing on the theories, studies, and evidence based literature related to the use of therapeutic touch. This study described the energy field theory to strong the concept of therapeutic touch. According to the energy field theory, ...