Nurse-Client Perceptions: The Double Standard of Touch

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Abstract
Because nurses have been cited as being unaware of clients' nonverbal communication as well as their own (Blondis, 1977; Murphy, 1984), the purpose of this descriptive study was to determine if 80 adult surgical clients' and 80 female registered nurses' perceptions about intrusions of hospital territory and personal space differed. Differences according to gender of client were specifically examined. The investigator administered the Territorial Intrusion-Personal Space (TIPS) Scale questionnaire to measure various feelings in response to intrusions. T-tests revealed that male clients generally had higher scores on the personal space subscale than nurses anticipated, whereas female clients had lower scores than nurses anticipated. These results revealed a double standard of touch: Male clients interpreted touch from a female nurse more positively than did female clients; however, female nurses interpreted female clients' behavior as being more receptive to touch and therefore appeared to be more comfortable touching female than male clients.

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