Comfort Theory, developed by Katharine Kolcaba, proclaims that providing comfort interventions a holistic approach can lead to positive outcomes, health seeking behaviors, and improved health-care delivery system. Comfort can be difficult to define and subjective to every person. However, Kolbaca used other theories to propose three types of comfort: relief, ease, and transcendence. Relief comes when a specific comfort is met, while ease is a state of calm or contentment. Transcendence occurs when the individual learns to cope with the discomfort or “rises above” (p. 382-383).
Comfort and discomfort can be perceived in on or more of the following contexts; physical, psychospiritual, environmental, and sociocultural (p. 382). In order for …show more content…
This can be assessed by using instruments and measuring tools provided by the theorists that address the induvial holistic needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can also be utilized to establish the comfort needs. The nurse should provide interventions within the scope of practice, technical interventions, along with coaching and comfort food for the soul interventions. These could be as simple as just holding the patients hand or teaching the patient how to manage their illness. Sometimes the nurse may have to use intuition to provide comfort as everyone copes pain and stress differently. The theorist also recommends to document acts of “caring” or comfort interventions in the narrative form, even if not required. This could provide evidence on the possible relationship between caring and better outcomes or healthcare experience. Thus, leading to better standards and …show more content…
When I was doing a clinical in ICU, I was assigned a patient who attempted suicide early in the afternoon and was being closely monitored. She was going through a rough period of her life due to a nasty divorce, custody battle, and recently lost employment. The patient would float in and out of consciousness but would have a flat affect and remained silent when awake. Her only family were an aunt and uncle, who never left her bedside. The aunt and uncle were unsettled by the events and really worried for their niece. I always took the time to offer them snacks or drinks, stayed at the bedside while they took a break, and always listened when they needed to talk. I thought the more I kept them comfortable and assured as possible, they could use all that energy to give all the support and love to their niece. As I interacted with the patient, I would just keep questioning to a minimal as I observed many staff members go in and ask tons of questions. I would just perform what was needed to be done and would make her as comfortable as possible. I remember when I was assisting washing her hair in bed, the patient just opened up and told me how she has been depressed and couldn’t bare being separated from her children. I think by providing comfort and not constantly asking questions, it “strengthened” her to open up and able to trust
Comfort and discomfort can be perceived in on or more of the following contexts; physical, psychospiritual, environmental, and sociocultural (p. 382). In order for …show more content…
This can be assessed by using instruments and measuring tools provided by the theorists that address the induvial holistic needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can also be utilized to establish the comfort needs. The nurse should provide interventions within the scope of practice, technical interventions, along with coaching and comfort food for the soul interventions. These could be as simple as just holding the patients hand or teaching the patient how to manage their illness. Sometimes the nurse may have to use intuition to provide comfort as everyone copes pain and stress differently. The theorist also recommends to document acts of “caring” or comfort interventions in the narrative form, even if not required. This could provide evidence on the possible relationship between caring and better outcomes or healthcare experience. Thus, leading to better standards and …show more content…
When I was doing a clinical in ICU, I was assigned a patient who attempted suicide early in the afternoon and was being closely monitored. She was going through a rough period of her life due to a nasty divorce, custody battle, and recently lost employment. The patient would float in and out of consciousness but would have a flat affect and remained silent when awake. Her only family were an aunt and uncle, who never left her bedside. The aunt and uncle were unsettled by the events and really worried for their niece. I always took the time to offer them snacks or drinks, stayed at the bedside while they took a break, and always listened when they needed to talk. I thought the more I kept them comfortable and assured as possible, they could use all that energy to give all the support and love to their niece. As I interacted with the patient, I would just keep questioning to a minimal as I observed many staff members go in and ask tons of questions. I would just perform what was needed to be done and would make her as comfortable as possible. I remember when I was assisting washing her hair in bed, the patient just opened up and told me how she has been depressed and couldn’t bare being separated from her children. I think by providing comfort and not constantly asking questions, it “strengthened” her to open up and able to trust