Theory of Comfort Essay MSN5270
In nursing, comfort is a prized outcome desired by both the care team and the patients. As a result, nurses’ roles include assessing patients’ comfort needs, designing and implementing appropriate comfort measures, and evaluating whether or not the patient’s comfort needs have been met. Katharine Kolcaba, a middle-range nursing theorist, pioneered the theory of comfort, stating that comfort is a product of holistic nursing art (Mansfield et al., 2020; Oliveira et al., 2020). She defined the theory’s three concepts: relief, ease, and transcendence. Relief refers to the satisfaction of patients’ needs, such as measures to relieve post-surgical pain, whereas ease refers to the patient’s level of contentment, such as reduced anxiety (Mansfield et al., 2020; Oliveira et al., 2020).
Transcendence, on the other hand, refers to the patient’s ability to rise above all obstacles. The theory views patients as individuals, families, communities, or institutions and defines the environment as the immediate surroundings that the patient, their family, or the nurse can manipulate to maximize comfort. The following is an example of a comfort contract created by the patient, which specifies the expected level of post-surgical overall comfort, as well as a list of measures that can be taken at home to ensure the patient’s relief.
As a patient, I am aware that I have numerous options when it comes to selecting the best hospital for medical care. After consulting with my family and carefully considering the wide range of surgical procedures it offers, I chose this hospital as my most appropriate care facility. The specifications for my expected level of post-surgical comfort are listed below.
- Pain alleviation
- Appropriate wound care and accelerated wound healing
- Ambulation as soon as possible
- Resumption of normalcy and duties/ability to function independently
- Excellent wound cosmesis
- No or minimal complications
My family has taken the steps listed below to ensure my comfort following discharge
- Designate a caregiver
- Adequate rest
- Providing food
- Wound care
- Pain medications
- Psychosocial affection/support for mental health
References
Mansfield, N., Naddeo, A., Frohriep, S., & Vink, P. (2020). Integrating and applying models of comfort. Applied Ergonomics, 82(102917), 102917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2019.102917
Oliveira, S. M. de, Costa, K. N. de F. M., Santos, K. F. O. D., Oliveira, J. D. S., Pereira, M. A., & Fernandes, M. das G. M. (2020). Comfort needs as perceived by hospitalized elders: an analysis under the light of Kolcaba’s theory. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 73(suppl 3), e20190501. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2019-0501