This study was a phenomenological exploration of the ethics of the nurse’s touch in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I explore several examples of touching encounters as gathered from NICU nurses through interview and observation, and organize the lived meanings around several thematic statements. These include the learning touch: finding a way to hold the baby, the marking touch: when touch lingers long after physical contact, the missing touch: touching without physical contact, the gnostic touch: the possibility of knowing an other and ourselves, and the call of touch: drawn to hold. Exploring the touching gestures of NICU nurses discloses the relational ethics inherent to caring practices. By attempting to articulate these practices, the hope is that the significance and contribution of the nurse’s touch might be recognized and brought forward to our individual and professional consciousness, conversations, and curricula.

本研究是对新生儿重症监护病房 (NICU) 护士抚触伦理的现象学探索。我通过采访和观察从 NICU 护士那里收集到的几个感人遭遇的例子，并围绕几个主题陈述来组织生活的意义。这些包括学习触摸：找到一种方法来抱住婴儿，标记触摸：当触摸在身体接触后长时间徘徊时，缺失的触摸：没有身体接触的触摸，诺斯替式触摸：了解他人和我们自己的可能性，以及触摸的呼唤：拉动以保持。探索 NICU 护士的触摸手势揭示了护理实践中固有的关系伦理。通过试图阐明这些做法，