Skill Checklists for Taylor's Clinical Nursing Skills: A Nursing Process Approach

222

Copyright © 2011 by Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Skill Checklists for Taylor's Clinical Nursing Skills:

Skill Checklists for Taylor's Clinical Nursing Skills:
A Nursing Process Approach, 3rd edition

Name Date

Unit Position

Instructor/Evaluator: Position

SKILL 10-2

Giving a Back Massage

Goal:The patient reports increased comfort and decreased

pain and exhibits a relaxed state. Comments

1. Perform hand hygiene and put on PPE, if indicated.


2. Identify the patient.


3. Offer a back massage to the patient and explain the
   procedure.


4. Put on gloves, if indicated.


5. Close room door and/or curtain.


6. Assess the patient’s pain, using an appropriate assessment
   tool and measurement scale. (See Fundamentals Review
   10-1 through 10-6.)


7. Raise the bed to a comfortable working position, usually
   elbow height of the caregiver (VISN 8 Patient Safety
   Center, 2009), and lower the side rail.


8. Assist the patient to a comfortable position, preferably the
   prone or side-lying position. Remove the covers and move
   the patient’s gown just enough to expose the patient’s back
   from the shoulders to sacral area. Drape the patient, as
   needed, with the bath blanket.


9. Warm the lubricant or lotion in the palm of your hand, or
   place the container in small basin of warm water. During
   massage, observe the patient’s skin for reddened or open
   areas. Pay particular attention to the skin over bony
   prominences.(See Chapter 8, Skin Integrity and Wound
   Care, for detailed information regarding skin assessment.)


10. Using light, gliding strokes (effleurage), apply lotion to
    patient’s shoulders, back, and sacral area.


11. Place your hands beside each other at the base of the
    patient’s spine and stroke upward to the shoulders and
    back downward to the buttocks in slow, continuous
    strokes. Continue for several minutes.


12. Massage the patient’s shoulder, entire back, areas over
    iliac crests, and sacrum with circular stroking motions.
    Keep your hands in contact with the patient’s skin.
    Continue for several minutes, applying additional lotion,
    as necessary.

ExcellentSatisfactoryNeeds Practice