Healing Touch at Work: A Quick and Powerful Way to Reduce Nurse Stress

If you’ve ever worked a 12-hour shift on a hospital floor, you know the physical and emotional toll it can take. Fast-paced decisions. Sudden emergencies. Endless documentation. Not to mention the quiet trauma of witnessing suffering and trying to stay grounded through it all.

In a healthcare landscape still recovering from the ripple effects of COVID-19, one question is rising in importance: How do we care for the caregivers?

A new study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing offers a powerful and practical answer. The research shows that just 4 to 7 minutes of Healing Touch—a gentle, energy-based therapy—can significantly reduce stress in working nurses, more effectively than even deep breathing exercises.

Let’s take a closer look at what they found and why it matters.

What Was the Study About?

The researchers wanted to see if Healing Touch (HT), an integrative therapy using gentle hand placements to balance the body’s energy, could reduce stress in nurses during their shift. They compared it to a simple, low-effort control: quiet deep breathing.

In a randomized controlled trial involving 128 nurses at a trauma center in the Southeastern U.S., nurses were assigned to receive either:

• A Healing Touch session using the “Noel’s Mind Clearing” technique, or

• A 4–7 minute deep breathing session with written instructions.

All interventions happened mid-shift in a quiet room—on a break that any nurse could reasonably take.

What Did They Measure?

They used both objective data (heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate) and subjective reports (a 0–10 visual scale of stress) before, right after, and up to 2 hours post-session.

The goal? To see if a brief HT session could truly make a difference, not just in how nurses felt, but in how their bodies responded to stress.

What Did They Find?

The results were clear—and striking.

Compared to deep breathing, the nurses who received Healing Touch had:

✅ Greater drops in heart rate and respiratory rate immediately post-session

✅ Significantly lower perceived stress levels, both right after and hours later

✅ Sustained improvement that lasted well beyond the break

In other words, Healing Touch didn’t just work—it worked better and longer.

And the nurses noticed. Many described feeling “peaceful,” “lighter,” “more focused,” and “deeply relaxed.” Most said they’d use it again if available. Some were even surprised to learn HT is already within their scope of nursing practice.

Why Is This So Important Right Now?

We’ve all seen the headlines: burnout, turnover, rising stress, and compassion fatigue. Nurses are leaving the profession, and the system is straining under the weight.

This study matters because it gives us a practical, low-cost, and evidence-based way to care for nurses—right in the middle of their workday. It doesn’t require expensive equipment, pharmaceuticals, or a spa day. Just a trained practitioner, a chair, and 5 minutes of intentional touch.

The results suggest that Healing Touch can be a serious strategy for preventing burnout, improving nurse retention, and creating a healthier environment—for both staff and patients.

How Can We Use This?

Hospitals, clinics, and administrators can take action today:

• Train in-house Healing Touch providers or encourage Level 1 HT training for nurse leaders.

• Create designated wellness spaces for brief sessions during shift breaks.

• Incorporate Healing Touch into staff wellness programs or onboarding for new nurses.

• Educate nurses about their ability to practice HT and use it as a self-care tool.

A Final Thought

Sometimes, healing doesn’t need to be high-tech or high-cost. Sometimes, it’s as simple as presence, touch, and intention.

This study brings something ancient into the modern nursing environment—and proves with data what many healers have long known intuitively: when we touch with care, we heal not only others, but ourselves.

Let’s keep supporting nurses not just with policies and protocols, but with powerful, practical tools like Healing Touch.

References

Rosamond, R.L., Wardell, D.W., Giarratano, G.P., Devier, D.J., & Yu, Q. (2025). Healing Touch as a Method for Supporting Holistic Nursing Practice: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Holistic Nursing.