Kolcaba was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944. She earned her Nursing diploma from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1965, then went on to graduate in 1987 from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. Kolcaba earned her Ph.D. in Nursing in 1997. She specialized in Gerontology, End of Life/Long Term Care interventions, Comfort Studies, Instrumental Development, Nursing Theory, and Nursing Research (Petiprin, 2023). She then went on to develop her Theory of Comfort in the 1990’s. Katharine Kolcaba defines comfort as the immediate experience of being strengthened in one or more defined contexts of comfort: physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental (Potter, et al., 2023). Katharine Kolcaba …show more content…
I picked this theory because I think it is important in nursing practice. Comfort can play a very important role in providing patients with relief, easing anxiety, and promoting comfort for caregivers. Comfort theory helps to give patients relief with pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods. A pharmacological method nurses can use is administering pain medications. The medication’s effect allows patients to feel relief (Ido, et al., 2019). Nonpharmacological methods include providing reassurance, information, hope, and listening to the patient (Lin, et al., 2023). Secondly, comfort can relieve anxiety. Comfort Theory can provide a sense of organization and relaxation for the patient who is being cared for. When the comfort of patients and/or their families is prioritized, they are more likely to exhibit health-seeking behaviors. Lastly, The Comfort Theory can help out caregivers, including staff at the hospital. Comfort theory not only enhances the experience for patients receiving care, but it also supports the well-being of healthcare …show more content…
The Comfort Theory aligns with my beliefs and values for an abundance of reasons. First off, the Comfort Theory emphasizes empathy and compassion. I think it is important to be able to fully understand and empathize with a patient’s emotions, experiences, and feelings. This can make caring for the patient more effective and personal. “If a patient is comfortable, they will feel better both emotionally and physically, which will help them recover quicker.” (Ido, et al., 2019). Secondly, I believe ethical practice is important, and the Comfort Theory exhibits that importance. In every aspect of providing care, it's important to follow ethical principles and professional standards. Registered nurses often face ethical dilemmas when caring for patients whose lives are at stake. They must adhere to protocols and best practices while respecting each patient's wishes and preferences for care (American Nursing Association, 2023). This is done by promoting the well-being of patients, avoiding harm, treating everyone fairly, and ensuring comfort-focused
The first provision of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) “Code of Ethics” states, “ The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.” The second provision states, “The nurse’s primary commitment is the patient, whether the patient is an individual, family, group, or community” (Fowler, 2010). As nurses we need to respect the autonomy and allow for the patient to express their choices and concerns. We also need to provide them with support by giving them knowledge and understanding so they
Although nursing is universally practiced, not all nurses values and morals are the same. Nurses and nursing students are usually put in situations where they must operate within an ethical structure which is either unfamiliar to their cultural criterion or those of the patients for whom they are taking care of. The most prominent values and morals of nurses are based on human dignity and benevolence. Human dignity is the main component that branches off into other values under caring for health and well-being. Trust, integrity, autonomy, and privacy are one of the many sub-values that fall under human dignity. It is important for the nurses to respect and understand the culture and beliefs of the patient without being judgmental or confrontational. The wellbeing of the patient is priority and so the nurses must focus on gaining the patients trust first by tending to their needs and exhibiting
“Ethics is a systematic study of principles of right and wrong conduct” (Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, & LeMone, 2015, p. 96). The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics has nine provisions to it. All nine are important to the nursing field in their own way. There are two provisions that I find most important in helping my career as a nurse. Provision one, The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect of the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal, attributes, or the nature of health problems. Secondly provision two, the nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient whether an individual, family, group, or community.
Nurses everywhere face problems and challenges in practice. Most of the challenges occur due to a struggle with the use of ethical principles in patient care. Ethical principles are “basic and obvious moral truths that guide deliberation and action,” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, 2014). Ethical principles that are used in nursing practice include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. These challenges not only affect them, but the quality of care they provide as well. According to the article, some of the most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical issues were protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent to treatment, staffing problems, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making (Ulrich et. al, 2013). The ethical issue of inadequate staffing conflicts with the principle of non-maleficence.
In my practice, I provide care to the best of my ability. I empathize with my patients when they are having a bad day and I provide laughter when it’s a good day. To go into the nursing profession it is imperative that you care for others, without care for your patients there is less chance for cure. If a patient does not feel cared for they may feel they are not important and that can cause them stress, making it more difficult to get better. My Philosophy for my nursing career always has been and will continue to be to provide the best care possible for my patients, ensuring they feel cared for and their needs are met. Just like these theorists and the Jacksonville Philosophy in which caring is at their core, I to will put caring at the core of my
When I became a nurse, in my heart, I knew that I was a caring person; however, I did not have a caring theory driving my practice. After studying Watson’s Human Caring Science Theory, the theory is consistent with my values, which emphasizes a holistic approach with mind, body, and spirit through a caring nurse patient relationship in an environment that promotes healing, comfort, and dignity. Human Caring Science gives the privilege of viewing human life with wonder, respect, and appreciates small and large miracles, which allows the inner world of the patient and nurse to come together in a unique human relationship, in the here and now moment (Watson, 2012, p. 24).
on which types of emotions we are feeling. When an individual is thinking about comfort
Nursing behaviors that improve patient comfort are as simple as positioning and repositioning, knowing patients special comfort habits, and advocating for family presence (Kolcaba & DiMarco, 2005). It is important to use a measurement tool to assess comfort and remember to reassess for a positive outcome or plan a new intervention. Comfort is associated with the pursuit of healthy behavior, increased patient satisfaction, and better cost-benefit ratios (Kolcaba & DiMarco, 2005). Although Watson’s caring model is a broad philosophy that applies to nursing practice in general, nurses utilizing this theory would find Kolcaba’s middle-range comfort theory aligns well within the framework those
...can be minimized when nurses-patients’ rights are prioritized, moral integrity and trust is upheld, limiting the adverse effect of ethical climate and moral distress among nurses.
The four fundamental nursing responsibilities of promoting health, preventing illness, optimizing health and alleviating the ill are represented in the code of ethics. (Arnold & Boggs, 2016) One can say that the code of ethics are rules that a nurse needs to follow in order to effectively communicate and protect the patients. The American Nurse Association provided the code of ethics to guide nurses to ensure that patient’s care, safety, rights and health are well cared for and well managed. Models like Utilitarian, deontological, and the human rights-based all contribute in answering dilemmas that can arise with a patient. Thus, explaining what some of the code of ethics are, and how the code of ethics influence our responsibilities as a nurse will impact the overall care of the
My journey to nursing began with my personal healthcare experience, and has continued to evolve since entering the nursing program at State University. My personal philosophy of nursing is related my life experience and my personal philosophy of life. Using reflection-on-action, I have begun to understand the influences that have lead me to nursing. I discovered client and family centered care to be an important quality when I look at the influential nurses in my life. To develop a positive therapeutic nurse-client relationship, nurses must integrate all 5 dimensions of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship into their practice (CNO, 2006). When it comes to providing client-centered care, the dimensions of trust, empathy and respect are particularly important (CNO, 2006). Illness can be a traumatic experience for patients and their families, and it is important to be empathetic to the patient’s needs, while still trusting the patient to be an expert in their illness and care.
6). Good intention is the main moral principle considered and consequences are irrelevant (Joel, 2013, p. 526). Seemingly, the deontological ideology focuses on the actions of the agent and would disregard patient focus and individuality. It is difficult to apply contemporary ethical theories to the nurse because of the values of the nursing profession. “Contemporary ethical theories do not lend themselves to the health-care professions or to ethically defensible decisions in health-care practice. None of the dominant ethical theories could be discovered in, or derived from, the profession of nursing” (Joel, 2013, p. 526). Casuistry, while not an ethical theory, is a case-based approach to practical decision-making. Cases that have set precedence are identified and comparisons are made using similarities, differences, and previous experiences. This concept is used to complement ethical theories in patient decision making by clinical ethics committees (Slowther, Johnston, Goodall, & Hope, 2004, § C4). Personally and professionally balancing ethical perspectives to be able to consider all details on a case by case basis seems like a more appropriate
Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a persons or a group’s behavior, ethical principles apply to both personal and professional relationships (Webster, 2015). The field of nursing is a profession that has been highly regarded and respected in society. Most nurses enter the profession in order to utilize their clinical skills to help others in their time of need. Those in failing health rely on nurses to care for them in their most vulnerable states, and expect a level of compassion and humanity while receiving care. Nurses have an ethical responsibility to their patients, clients, and their community. Compassion, empathy, and integrity are staple characteristics that nurses possess that allow them to successfully perform their
Comfort is important to caring in nursing because it is the nurse 's job to try and help the patient feel at ease and be pain free.
According to Kristen Swanson’s theory of caring, caring consists of Knowing, Being with, Doing for, Enabling, and maintaining belief. She believes that the environment and what is in the environment can affect people, either positively or negatively. As a nursing student, I possess the qualities of enabling, doing for, and being with. These qualities are implanted in me via my upbringing, culture, religious belief, and life experience/encounters(my environment). “Enabling” is the nurses’ responsibility to help the make a transition into the unknown.