Holistic Nursing Practice, 23, 75-79. However, it could serve as essential content for undergraduate and graduate nursing students to learn. Assessment can be subjective or objective; subjective as in asking the patient if they are in pain and objective as in measuring a wound healing Kolcaba, 2011. Nurse Education Today, 33 6 , 614-619. Transcendence — the state in which one can rise above problems or pain. It is also true the other way around. The theory is that if the patient is comfortable, the family member will be comfortable also.
Kolcaba, 2003 The latter part was included because the comfort framework can be applied to other health care disciplines and will bring about holistic care for the patients. The comfort theory was also used as a teaching philosophy in a fast- track nursing education program for students. It has been shown in studies that, once the nurse or caretaker initiates a comfort measure intervention to meet the holistic comfort of the patient, the patient's comfort is increased over a previous baseline measurement. Comfort Questionnaires Identified in Dowd 2010 and Kolcaba 2010. Article also includes how the word has been used in the history of nursing, from Nightingale 1859 , Harmer 1926 , Goodnow 1935 , Orlando 1961 , Watson 1979 and Hamilton 1989 § 1991 Published article: A taxonomic structure for the concept of nursing. Purpose Here is where you start to further discuss what makes up the theory as you move through these level two headings.
For example, Cox 1998 found Kolcaba's theory was useful as a teaching guide for care of older adults and that students could readily apply Kolcaba's theory in providing nursing care of older adults and addressing holistic comfort needs in elders in an acute-care setting. Lecturer in College of Nursing. Orthopaedic Nursing, 19 6 , 53- 60. Lastly, discuss how the theory contributes to the science of nursing. In 1997, Kolcaba earned her Ph.
Kolcaba's 1992 Theory of Comfort provided the conceptual framework for a research study on comfort levels in patients with do-not-resuscitate orders Kaplow, 2000. Before I wrote Comfort Theory, I had done two concept analyses of comfort which led to a method of operationalizing measuring patient or family or nurse comfort. Are the conceptual relationships specific or vague? Is deductive, inductive or retroductive reasoning used in the theory? The higher the score, the higher the comfort. The extent of the peaceful death can be measured through a comfort questionnaire given to the family at an appropriate time. Transcendence, for example, is felt when the patient reaches a goal.
Health is considered to be optimal functioning in the patient, as defined by the patient, group, family, or community. She is currently a nursing professor at the University of Akron in Ohio. Types of Comfort Questionnaires Identified in Dowd 2010 and Kolcaba 2010. Sample criteria included being between the ages of 18 and 72 years and diagnosed with a solid, malignant tumor or a hematological type of cancer. The statements on how these ideas are intertwined are clearly stated throughout the theory making it easy to understand.
Because there are needs that must be addressed, the nurse does a nursing assessment of subjective and objective data and develops a plan of care. This leads to institutional integrity which is based on a value system oriented to the recipients of care Kolcaba, 1997, 2001. The idea of providing comfort to the patient can assist the patient in healing and relaxation. Intervening variables are taken into account in designing the interventions and determining if they have probability for success. Ponnambily Jobin, working as Asst. Patients who are given the power to engage in health-seeking behaviors of their own have a better perceptions of and about their health care.
These interventions go above and beyond expectations, and are most often done by the most expert of nurses. External Evaluation Kolcaba 2000 offers a mid-range theory that focuses on the concept of comfort as the essence of nursing care. Transcendence: the recipient rising above their level of discomfort, trouble or pain; strengthened, motivated, determined By having these comforts met, the patient is made stronger immediately or holistically. The second assertion states that increase in comfort leads to increase in participation in health seeking behavior. Holistic Nursing practice, 14 2 , 91-103.
Nursing Forum, 37 4 , 16-23. Finally, transcendence comfort comes when a patient is able to rise above challenges that occur in care and recovery. Be a comfort care advocate. I will do anything is my power to ensure the patient and their family have had all their questions answered and their stress and anxiety level is decreased. The author provides several graphic images and diagrams to clarify comfort theory, including the graph shown in Figure 1 below. Journal of Holistic Nursing Practice, 14 91-103.
Comfort measures are directed at regaining homeostasis. The purpose of the study was to measure the effectiveness of a customized guided imagery program for cancer patients and its effect in comfort of the patient. Author Katharine Kathy Kolcaba 1944 — Katharine Kolcaba taught nursing theory and gerontology at the University of Akron College of Nursing for 23 years. A taxonomic structure for the concept of comfort. The key concepts are all inter-related in the diagram and the propositions. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 13 2 , 117-131.