Abstract
The nursing profession is very familiar with the phenomenon of chronic pain. It is recognized as a nursing diagnosis and there are many components that make the concept of chronic pain so complex. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts beyond three to six months and can be mild to severe, and sporadic or constant. The mechanism of action of chronic pain has many parts of the body involved, including the spinal cord and the brain. Katharine Kolbaca’s Theory of Comfort can be applied to chronic pain by recognizing a nurse’s duty to make a patient comfortable physically and evaluating a patient’s comfort need, creating and applying nursing care plans, and assessing the patient after these plans have been accomplished. …show more content…
This theory was developed by Katharine Kolcaba, and it suggests that comfort should be one of the most important things a nurse can provide for a patient. “Kolcaba conducted a concept analysis of comfort that examined literature from several disciplines, including nursing, medicine, psychology, psychiatry, ergonomics, and English,” (“Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort,” 2014). “The next two years were spent organizing these findings, concluding with three technical senses of comfort used currently in nursing,” (Kolcaba, 2001, pg. 87). She described “comfort existing in three forms: relief, ease, and transcendence. If specific comfort needs of a patient are met, the patient experiences comfort in the sense of relief. Ease addresses comfort in a state of contentment. Transcendence is described as a state of comfort in which patients are able to rise above their challenges,” (“Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort,” …show more content…
“Nociceptive pain sensation may be visceral or somatic and is designed to provide a signal that tissue damage or inflammation is occurring somewhere in the body,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg. 264). This type of pain is typically associated with the skin, muscles, bones, joints, or other connective tissue damage. In the elderly, nociceptive pain may be related to or caused by arthritis or tendonitis. “Neuropathic pain results from damage to the central or peripheral nervous system,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg. 264). Some neuropathic conditions that are more commonly found in the older generation include diabetic neuropathy and post-herpetic neuralgia. If this pain becomes chronic and untreated, it “may lead to depression, decreased socialization and functional abilities, and insomnia,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg. 264). When pain is left untreated, the pain receptors of the body can become more sensitive and reactive to stimuli with a depressed pain threshold. This may lead to hyperalgesia or “an increased sensitivity to pain or enhanced intensity of pain sensation,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg.
The nursing profession is very familiar with the phenomenon of chronic pain. It is recognized as a nursing diagnosis and there are many components that make the concept of chronic pain so complex. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts beyond three to six months and can be mild to severe, and sporadic or constant. The mechanism of action of chronic pain has many parts of the body involved, including the spinal cord and the brain. Katharine Kolbaca’s Theory of Comfort can be applied to chronic pain by recognizing a nurse’s duty to make a patient comfortable physically and evaluating a patient’s comfort need, creating and applying nursing care plans, and assessing the patient after these plans have been accomplished. …show more content…
This theory was developed by Katharine Kolcaba, and it suggests that comfort should be one of the most important things a nurse can provide for a patient. “Kolcaba conducted a concept analysis of comfort that examined literature from several disciplines, including nursing, medicine, psychology, psychiatry, ergonomics, and English,” (“Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort,” 2014). “The next two years were spent organizing these findings, concluding with three technical senses of comfort used currently in nursing,” (Kolcaba, 2001, pg. 87). She described “comfort existing in three forms: relief, ease, and transcendence. If specific comfort needs of a patient are met, the patient experiences comfort in the sense of relief. Ease addresses comfort in a state of contentment. Transcendence is described as a state of comfort in which patients are able to rise above their challenges,” (“Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort,” …show more content…
“Nociceptive pain sensation may be visceral or somatic and is designed to provide a signal that tissue damage or inflammation is occurring somewhere in the body,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg. 264). This type of pain is typically associated with the skin, muscles, bones, joints, or other connective tissue damage. In the elderly, nociceptive pain may be related to or caused by arthritis or tendonitis. “Neuropathic pain results from damage to the central or peripheral nervous system,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg. 264). Some neuropathic conditions that are more commonly found in the older generation include diabetic neuropathy and post-herpetic neuralgia. If this pain becomes chronic and untreated, it “may lead to depression, decreased socialization and functional abilities, and insomnia,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg. 264). When pain is left untreated, the pain receptors of the body can become more sensitive and reactive to stimuli with a depressed pain threshold. This may lead to hyperalgesia or “an increased sensitivity to pain or enhanced intensity of pain sensation,” (Tabloski, 2010, pg.