Our massage and spa programs here at California Institute of Massage & Spa Services offer nurses a unique opportunity for fulfilling their nursing continuing education unit requirements.

Everyone needs loving and compassionate touch. We, at CIMSS, believe that holding a space for loving through touch allows the potential for greater health on all levels-physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Often massage is considered a wellness and health enhancing technique. We also recognize that as skilled touch becomes an integral part of the healing process where health issues exist, recovery from illness is often facilitated. Anyone who has been under some kind of medical care knows how important the medical provider’s approach is. When we are injured or have an illness, we want to be touched in a caring and compassionate way. From the beginning of life loving touch is necessary for our survival. We all recognize the meaning of the initials TLC - tender, loving care. Receiving this type of care is the heartfelt desire of every person throughout his or her life ranging from infancy into the senior years. People at the time of their death are very much in need of loving touch as they let go of their physical bodies and move into spirit. The potential for a peaceful passing is greatly enhanced when providing such touch.

Various researches have shown that massage offers many benefits, which may have special interest to nursing professionals. In fact, evidence from the Miami School of Medicine Touch Research Institutes offering a variety of case studies directed by Tiffany Fields suggests we actually thrive as human beings with such touch.

The following benefits attributed to such studies of massage are listed below: (*)

• Facilitates growth (i.e., premature infants)
• Increases attentiveness and learning, thus having positive implication for those with ADD, hyperactivity or learning disabilities
• Alleviates pain
• Improves immune function by increasing the number of natural killer cells, with implications for those with AIDS, cancer and viral diseases
• Reduces stress
• Supports effective digestion and breathing through stimulation of the vagus nerve
• Encourages dietary compliance in diabetics, leading to more normal glucose levels
• Lowers blood pressure, anxiety, and hostility levels in individuals with hypertension
• Reduces the number of headache days in migraine headaches

Research is currently underway on the effects of massage in cystic fibrosis, childhood irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis in the elderly, sickle cell anemia (to mitigate pain), coma and spinal cord injuries (to upgrade circulation and retard muscle atrophy); mental depression and failure to thrive in the elderly; reduction in formation of scar tissue from breast surgery, as well as reduction of anxiety, depression and the cortisol level; Down Syndrome (to improve muscle tone and cognitive skills); and cerebral palsy (to help infants gain more muscle flexibility).

(*) Benefits and research information were taken from 'Mosby’s Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage' by Sandy Fritz.

All of our programs here at CIMSS are approved by the Board of Registered Nursing which is under the direction of the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs. You are welcome to contact us with any questions you may have regarding applying for nursing continuing educational unit programs and classes to satisfy your required, board approved hours.