Therapeutic touch as a nursing intervention.

Therapeutic Touch (TT) is being proposed as a nursing intervention. Its proponents claim that it is integral to the art of nursing practice and can facilitate comfort and healing in a wide range of patients. However, the practice of TT is also controversial, primarily because it does not usually involve physical contact and is based on energy field theoretical frameworks. The development of TT and its conceptualization as an energy field interaction are reviewed, and points of controversy discussed. The method of practice is described. Review of controlled efficacy studies indicates limited and inconclusive scientific support for its proposed effects. The intrinsic relationship between TT and the placebo phenomenon is discussed. The potential of TT to enhance the placebo effect requires further exploration but should not be discounted in seeking to relieve discomfort and distress and facilitate healing. For some patients, TT may serve as a beneficial adjuvant nursing intervention.

Integrating nursing research and practice: Part II-A Delphi study of nursing practice priorities for research-based solutions.

Reading formal research reports and developing the art of critical analysis and evaluation are essential skills for nurses in practice. Here is an opportunity to begin developing these skills as Catherine Cooney, Susan Stebbings, Margaret Roxburgh, Janice Mayo, Niqui Keen, Ellen Evans and Therese Meehan report a survey done by nurses in Northland. Feedback through letters to the editor would be welcomed.

Integrating nursing research and practice: Part I--A journey into the unknown.

We must all face the challenge of weaving together the art and science of nursing, of integrating nursing research and practice. In a two part article Northland nurses tell about their experiences with research and the study they carried out. Part one describes their beginning experiences with integrating research and practice.

Therapeutic touch and postoperative pain: a Rogerian research study.

This article details Meehan's research study concerning the conceptualization of therapeutic touch within Rogers' science of unitary human beings and an investigation of the effects of therapeutic touch on pain experience in postoperative patients. Using a single trial, single-blind, three-group design, 108 postoperative patients were randomly assigned to receive one of the following: therapeutic touch, a placebo control intervention which mimicked therapeutic touch, or the standard intervention of a narcotic analgesic. Using a visual analogue scale, pain was measured before and one hour following intervention. The hypothesis, that therapeutic touch would significantly decrease postoperative pain compared to the placebo control intervention, was not supported. Secondary analyses suggest that therapeutic touch may decrease patients' need for analgesic medication. Implications for further research and practice are suggested.