As I arrived at the hospice Care Center for my shift, I was immediately enlisted by one of the nurses to help bring a reclining chair into room 203 for a patient who had arrived twenty minutes earlier.  As I moved the chair into the room, I saw Jackie, a woman in her early 80s, sitting in a straight-back visitor chair next to the hospital bed.  Despite her daughter’s encouragement, Jackie was not interested in lying in the bed.  The daughter then encouraged Jackie to at least move into the recliner where she would be more comfortable, but the more Jackie’s daughter prodded her mother to “get more comfortable”, the more obstinate and upset Jackie became.   The frustration and negativity in the room was palpable. 

Witnessing all of this, I slowly and quietly approached Jackie, looking into her eyes, I introduced myself and took her hand in mine.I asked her if it would be OK if I sat in the recliner.She looked a little puzzled, then got a slight smile on her face and said, “Yes, that would be fine.”I then told Jackie that I was trained in Comfort Touch and explained that it was like gentle acupressure on the hands and feet.I asked if it would be OK for me to show her what it was like. She replied, “Sure”.Once Jackie realized that I wasn’t trying to get her to do anything and that I was simply there to help her get comfortable and relax, her entire demeanor changed.Her body relaxed into the chair she had selected and, as I performed comfort touch on her hand, her eyes began to close, and she fell asleep sitting up in the chair.The daughter and the nurse quietly thanked me and left the room.I continued to hold her hand while she slept.Every 20 minutes or so, Jackie woke up, lifted her head in surprise, then seeing me sitting in front of her holding her hand, she would smile then settle back into sleep.Three hours later, as my shift was coming to an end, I leaned in and whispered in Jackie’s ear, “Jackie, I have to leave now”.She opened her eyes, smiled and said “That was lovely”.