The Power of Human Touch

I am an avid reader. One book that really got to me had a story in it about the power of the human touch. It captured my attention.

There was a hospital that had several preemies that were on the borderline of surviving even a few days. The staff was told on some of them to not form attachments, don't touch them, don't hold them, don't get attached because they would likely not survive. Well, against the wishes of the administration, an elderly nurse went in after rounds and if she could, held the hands, stroked the heads, and the ones she couldn't even do that with she still talked with and sang softly to them.

The days went on and while it is sad that a few did succumb and died, most of them started getting better. They started over the next couple of days to put on weight; one even could be weaned from the ventilator that she was on.

Finally, all but two fully recovered to the place that they were stable and could be moved out of intensive care.

When the nurse's behavior was reported to the administration, they did a great thing. They asked her to keep holding and touching and talking and singing to the preemies that would come through the hospital.

This was several years ago, but it started the studies into the importance of touch and premature infants. The book went on to say that the success rate of recovery for these infants averaged 40% greater than those that were not given any physical attention. In fact, because of this there are now several hospitals that have volunteers that all they do is physically touch and talk and even sing to preemies.

How wonderful that the loving act of one nurse and the importance of touch has saved so many lives.