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Theories of touch as related to nonverbal communication in the area of patient care are examined, and studies of touch as a general communication device and as a specific factor in the medical discipline are reviewed. According to the abstract universal of touch communication, as observed in use in american culture today, five broad areas are developed into a concept of touch. Out of this concept, inferences are formed into a “construct” a theoretical abstraction of observed facts that th act of touch is an integral part of nursing intervention and is to be used judiciously between nurse and patient, health team and patient, and health team and nurse as a fundamental mechanic of communication, a vital means of communicating, a basis for establishing communication, and as an important means of communicating emotions and ideas.
Kathryn Barnett (Wed,) studied this question.