I have this moment right now today, I don't know if I have a tomorrow!
I don't miss an opportunity to say, I love you, I appreciate you to my friends, my family and patients.

I break the rules, I accept hugs, I hold hands with the suffering, I pray silently as they end their life's journey.

Touch is healing and I give and recieve as much as the patient in those rare moments of joy.

There but for the Grace of God go I?

If you were dying, I would hug you, or sit with you and hold your hand.
In the essence and joy of your life, I would never deny you a gentle hug.

Universal precautions: I slip the antibiotic gel out of pocket and cleanse after.

I hope you never stop sharing those precious hugs.
Peace

I hug my residents when ever they need it and hold their hand. It is what makes the job worthwhile.

It makes no sense to me that we have so many “no touch” polices and as nurses that is what we do, touch. So many times a patient really needs to be touched and a hug would be very therapeutic. There are extremely strict no touch polices in the jail. In this environment for the most part I do agree. However, just the other day I had an inmate who was so very upset about a recent loss. His brother 22-year-old brother had just committed suicide. He was of course very tearful and really hurting. Had I been in any other environment I would have patted this poor mans hand at the very least. I whole heartedly agree with the policy of not calling an elderly person honey, sugar, darling. I fought this until I was blue in the face when I was working in LTC. I was often told, “this is the South.” I do not give a rat’s ass what part of the country you are from it is degrading to call someone honey, darling, sweetie when they are old enough to be your mother, grandmother and in some cases great-grandmother. They deserve respect and speaking to them as though they are a child or a pet is not in the least respectful. I cannot stand it when a cashier or server calls me or my husband honey, sweetie, dear or whatever other sickening sweet name they come out with. I will embarrass them every time they do that to me. I will refer to them by the same term with great emphasis. I have also told them to “Please do not call my husband sweetie.” If you are not my husband, my best friend or one of my sisters you best not call me by any endearment.

A nurse is a thinking feeling human being. Yes, there is the chance of cross contamination....you can pick up one of those just breathing the same air as a patient(from what i have been told). But , come on now, we have emotions and they help us be a comfort to a soul in pain . We should not wall off the emotions and become cold. thats my 2 cents.

I have a funny story about this! I've always been a huggy touchy person..... I was working on the Surg floor (as a CNA) and had a guy that had back surg. It rained one day and we had a great rainbow, so I ran in and got him into his back brace and up and about. We walked over and saw the rainbow and on our way back to his bed, he became very emotional about the whole thing and reached out to me and gave me a hug. Well I had my stetoscope around my neck and we became tangled together...stuck for a very long minute...scared that I'd get my butt kicked if someone saw us in this percarious position! We finally got untangled and got him back to bed and we laughed for days about this every time I was able to take care of him!!! That made both our day, and it made my job a little more fun and rewarding!!!

Okay I read all of the replies and felt moved to add this comment.

Within Reason: Those men and women whom have a history of inappropriate behavior reveal themselves within the first few meetings, I draw the cutting edge professional line. I watch the nurses as these pt's approach me and they give me that "come here' and sharp warming with their eyes and body language.

Just as in any public environment one must be cautious.

I agree with "honey, sweetie, darling" and found out the hard way it's best to address all with Mr. or Ms.
It sets the tone for a professional relationship with all and makes my role as care giver much easier.

Grace moves me to know when it's okay, and when a hug is not okay.
Peace to you on this beautiful day!

I work in a LTC facility, and sometimes these dear old people do need a little hug or kiss. Touch is healing. I was raised southern, so yes, I do call them honey, sweetie. I also use Sir and Ma'am as well. Sometimes in the middle of the night the residents do get lonely, confused, etc. I will bend the rules at times to comfort someone who is scared or hurting, and just plain lonley. One night in particular a woman was having problems sleeping and lonely. I actually did have some time... I got her a can of ginger ale, some graham cracker, and I snuck my bottle of Coke back with me and we sat and had a little "tea party". It was fun, it made her feel better, and more importantly, we as care givers are their extended families. Isn't part of nursing and healing about Mind, Body and Spirit? All these apply I believe in caregiving.

the older folk too in nursing homes have some great stories to tell and are lonesome and would love someone to lend an ear. They've seen things and done things and they delight in telling just about anyone who will listen. Their whole face lights up as they recall momemts from their past. Just a kind word or a touch on the shoulder means so much to them. They were teachers, soldiers, mothers, farmers, heads of companies, and on and on and on.There's alot to learn from them if we only take the time to listen.

Just finished clincal today at the nursing home. It was awesome! I had some residents who really appreciated any little thing you did for them. There was one little man that gets pretty confused but we just listen. Today some 1st graders from a local school came in to sing for them. We asked him if he'd like to go see them. "Sure", he said, don't know if he really knew what he was saying sure to or not but he was game. Well, it took two of us but we finally got him transferred. An 18 year old girl in my nursing program was his student nurse today and I was just helping her. I was so proud of her for thinking of him. Anyway, she rolled him down the hallway while he held onto my hand and talked all the way. You should have seen the smile on his face! He was grinning from ear to ear. We stood back and watched him watch the kids and he was bobbing his head to their music and when they were done he took his gnarled, old hands and clapped as well as he could. To see the joy on his face will be something I always remember and I will always be proud of this young nursing student who thought enough of him to take the extra time out of her schedule to make him happy!