MK Brennan, MS, RN, ACM, MT

Atrium Health

MK brings over 30 years of experience in healthcare, including nursing, massage therapy, health promotion research methodology, and developmental psychology to Society for Oncology Massage leadership team. In addition, her background includes a variety of leadership roles with the American Massage Therapy Association. MK was the Executive Director of the American Polarity Therapy Association and is a member of the Clinical Work Group and the Hospital Based Massage Therapy Task Force of the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health.

Presenting at the Nexus Summit:

Hospital Based Massage Therapy Competencies, developed through a survey of 37 hospitals. These competencies describe what a massage therapist should know and be able to do to practice safely in the hospital environment. (#13)

Introduction: As massage therapy experiences a resurgence of use for hospitalized patients, it is appropriate to consider the competencies needed by practitioners to practice safely and effectively in the inpatient setting. Hospitals differ vastly from other massage practice locations such as private offices, spas, and sports clubs. The variety of conditions encountered in an acute care setting requires knowledge and ability to adapt massage protocols appropriately. Objectives: The Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health (ACIH) created the Hospital Based Massage Therapy (HBMT) Task…