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Katharine Kolcaba's Comfort Theory
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Nursing theory is important in the work that a nurse does on a daily basis. Having nursing theory allows the nurse to know what his or her role is in the health care field (Iskandarani, Al Hammadi, & Al Gizani, 2012, p. 115). Nurses do not always recognize when he or she is using nursing theories in his or her practice. This writer believes that Katharine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort is important in nursing practice. Making sure that the patient is comfortable improves the healing process for the patient. The two articles that this writer chose explains how the implementation of Kolcaba’s theory improved the patients care, specifically related to cardiac patients.
The first article that this author chose was A Practical Application of Katharine Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory to Cardiac Patients (Krinsky, Murillo, & Johnson, 2014). This article discusses the application of Katharine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort in the clinical setting with cardiac patients as the focus (Krinsky et al., 2014, p. 147). This article examines the important of a quiet environment for the patients that are healing, especially the patients that have been diagnosed with cardiac illnesses (Krinsky et al., 2014, p. 148). This article explains the important of a quiet and therapeutic environment when the patient is in the emergency room
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The articles also explain how the emergency room and floors in the hospital are loud and noisy and do not promote a quiet and comfortable environment. The article about quiet time with cardiac patients offers tips on how to give the patient a therapeutic environment that the patient needs for healing (Krinsky et al., 2014, p. 148-149).Both of these articles show the nurses and other hospital staff members how important Katharine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort is to the patient’s healing and recovery
Katherine Kolcaba is a nursing theorist who developed the Theory of Comfort in 1990. It is a “middle range theory for health practice, education and research” (Kolcaba, 2011) with a focus on comfort. The three forms of comfort that Kolcaba describes are relief, ease and transcendence. It is these terms that my organization utilizes in documentation of pain and comfort in the electronic health record.
Dr. Jey Arthur, of Sutter Memorial Hospital, is an idol when it comes to physicians within a hospital’s Emergency Room. During his shift, the entire atmosphere of the Emergency Room changes. Nurses become more interactive with their patients and the patient’s rooms are no longer filled with misery and hopelessness. From the second the patient is assigned a room, Dr. Arthur is constantly visiting keeping the patient well informed and up to date on what the physicians and nurses are doing and their progress. From my time shadowing Dr. Aurther, not a single patient had lost a smile when he left the room. Beyond the care of the patient, Dr. Arthur has established absolute order with those working in the Emergency Room. Dr. Arthur has made himself
Noise is unwanted sound. Over the past 50 years, sound levels in hospitals have increased,1-3 with all studies exceeding the recommendations from World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Community Noise.4 In 2006 the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems began surveying patients regarding their perspectives on hospital care. This survey specifically asks about noise: “During this hospital stay, how often was the area around your room quiet at night?” In 2013, the responses to this question were included in the calculation of a Value Based Purchasing score, which is linked to payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. To effectively carry out noise reducing interventions it is important to understand what we know about noise in the hospital. This article, which focuses on noise in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), describes basic sound level measurement terminology, the effect of noise on critically ill patients and evidence-based strategies to which nurses can actively contribute to decrease or protect patients from noise.
Traditionally, when a patient arrests in a hospital the family is taken away from their beloved ones to a waiting room while life-saving measures are initiated. For many years family members were not allowed in the room during the resuscitation because healthcare workers thought family presence would interfere with the resuscitation process, but the approach towards family presence has improved in recent years. (Wacht, Dopelt, Snir & Davidovitch, 2010). Professional organizations and national guidelines recommend family presence (FP) during resuscitation, and interestingly only 5% of US hospitals have a written policy on the family presence concept and follow the guidelines according to the policy (Oman & Duran, 2010). Evidence based practice has initiated the action for health care systems to ensure best practice and improve patient care and outcomes (Nykiel, Denicke, Schneider, Jett, Denicke, Kunish, Sampson & Williams, 2011).
Kolcaba 's Theory of Comfort was first developed in the 1990s. This is a theory and has the potential to place comfort in the forefront of health-care. Comfort is a basic need. The model; comfort is an immediate desirable outcome of nursing care. The environment is any aspect of the patient, family, or institutional surroundings that can be manipulated by a nurse or loved one in order to enhance comfort. Health is considered to be optimal functioning in the patient, as defined by the patient, group, family, or community. Comfort can occur for the patient as physical, psycho-spiritual, environmental, and socio-cultural. Malinowski, A., & Stamler, L. (2002).
The general idea of, K, is that a nurse must have knowledge in the diversity of cultures, ethics, and education. The significance of this faction being that if the nurse is cognizant of the patient 's culture, beliefs, family values, support systems, and education level, a more thorough and comprehensive plan of care can be formulated. The premise of, S, is that a nurse must be skilled in the ability to communicate with and advocate for the patient, assess for and properly treat pain, and incorporate the needs and concerns of the patient and their family. The significance of this group and development of these skills include the achievement of pain control, increased rehabilitation periods, and an increase in patient/family satisfaction. The theme of, A, requires that a nurse maintains an open attitude toward the patient and to respect and validate the nurse-patient relationship, which will aid in a positive nurse-patient
The provision of patient/family-centered care, which assure safety and quality in the service, would have a team work approach as a foundation and underpinning. In a healing process or in the preservation of health intervene several factors, some of them are closely related with the environment. Healthcare providers constitute an important part of that environment, and definitely, communication with patients, families, and among themselves, have a significant impact on it. The environment would influence the patient’s perception of care, and the staff’s level of
In less stressful environment, nurses able to incorporate caring relationship, improve interactions between patient and a nurse, and develop understanding of the other person’s perspective (Nicely, K, Sloane, D., Aiden, L., 2012).
Every person’s needs must be recognized, respected, and filled if he or she must attain wholeness. The environment must attuned to that wholeness for healing to occur. Healing must be total or holistic if health must be restored or maintained. And a nurse-patient relationship is the very foundation of nursing (Conway et al 2011; Johnson, 2011). The Theory recognizes a person’s needs above all. It sets up the conducive environment to healing. It addresses and works on the restoration and maintenance of total health rather than only specific parts or aspect of the patient’s body or personality. And these are possible only through a positive healing relationship between the patient and the nurse (Conway et al, Johnson).
Jean Watson is a well-respected American nursing theorist who created the Theory on Human Caring. Watson’s concept on caring for a human being is simple, yet has much depth and meaning, and holds strong for nurses to work with compassion, wisdom, love, and caring. The Theory on Human Caring is necessary for every nurse, as it is our job to care for others in a genuine and sensitive way. The theory is extensive; its core foundation is based on nine concepts all interrelated and primarily focused on a nurse giving a patient care with compassion, wisdom, love, and caring (Watson, J., 1999). The nine essential aspects consist of: values, faith-hope, sensitivity, trust, feelings, decision-making, teaching-learning, environment, and human needs. Watson also created the Caritas Process consists of ten different ways of giving care:
When a nurse is providing patient care, he/she creates a safe environment for the patient and enables the choice to establish a relationship on a human to human interaction or on a transpersonal level. The patient will be acknowledged as a person with the wholeness of their soul despite their illness or number on the bed. The ten carative factors in this theory are used as an education tool for nurses around the world and should be applied to the different care situations in practice. Nurses use the factors to promote growth in themselves and within the patient. A nurse should respect the patient’s decisions and take the time to fully be present in the moments with the patient. A lot of nurses complain about the time limitations they have and do not provide the necessary amount of time to listen and gather the patient’s perspective of the situation. Another way this theory can be applied to practice is by recognizing the caring moment between you and the patient. This will determine how the relationship will
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.
In a waiting room, you have to endure several forms of torture. The most prominent of these is the music they play. The music is too quiet, so the patients can barely to hear it in the silence, meaning if you cough, or make any form of noise, you are worried people will pay more attention to you and j...
Nursing theories are actions care that a nurse provides to a patient to prevent a sickness, maintain and promote health. Many of the theorists contribute to a frame work or a blueprint of how nurses should provide care to patients. Many these theories are part of nursing care and most of them they go hand in hand. Nursing theory aims to describe, predict and explain the phenomenon of nursing (Chinn and Jacobs1978).Nursing is apprehensive with laws and principles governing the life processes and functioning of sick or well human beings. Nursing theories are beneficial in understanding the knowledge of nursing and its application (Smith and Liehr, 2008).
Crumbie, A. (2007) Caring for the patient with a cardiovascular disorder In: Wash, M. & Crumbie, A. Watson’s Clinical Nursing and Related Sciences. 7th Ed. Bailliere Tindall Elsevier. London pg 244 – 324.