The Roles and Purposes of Caring Touch in Health Professional Practice: A Discourse Analysis
Date
Authors
Power, Nicola
Fadyl, Joanna
Walters, Simon
Payne, Deborah
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
Research literature concludes that caring touch contributes to physical and psychological wellness. However, in health practice, touch is constructed as acceptable in some situations and not in others. Utilising interviews with nurses and other health professionals, the aim of this study was to explore the discourses shaping the role and purpose of caring touch in health practice. Poststructural methodology, drawn from the work of Michele Foucault, was employed to make visible what discourses of caring touch were legitimised or marginalised in a health setting. At times, caring touch was constructed as an expression of humanness, whilst at others it was expressly part of a professional practice. Findings showed that discourses shaping choices to engage in acts of caring touch with patients were linked to the social construction of the relationship between the patient and the professional. Whilst some practitioners talked about integrating caring touch into practice with little difficulty, for others, caring touch was constructed as an ‘extra’. Discourses that shaped professional subjectivities were key to those differences. Findings from this paper build on existing understandings of caring touch in literature by highlighting the unique interplay of discourses in practice.Description
Keywords
1110 Nursing, Nursing, 4204 Midwifery, 4205 Nursing, caring touch, discourse analysis, Foucault, health practitioner, nursing practice
Source
Nursing Inquiry, ISSN: 1320-7881 (Print); 1440-1800 (Online), Wiley, 33(2). doi: 10.1111/nin.70094
Publisher's version
Rights statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Nursing Inquiry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.