1. Katherine Kolcaba, PhD, RN,C: Comfort Care
By: Molina Allen
Nurs 324
Ferris University

2. PERSON Patient, family, or community requiring care.
Physical Comfort
Basic needs fulfilled
Pain management
Listening audience
Continuity of care
Cultural practices encouraged
Open visiting policy
Religious service/prayer
Assurance of life purpose
Accommodations for family
Privacy/dignity maintained
Timely response to call light
“. . . successful comfort care theoretically strengthens the patient” (Kolcaba, 1995).

3. Adequate shelter
Access to clean food and water
Pulling curtain to maintain dignity and privacy
Alarms managed
Comfortable bedding
Temperature
Calming, Quiet Atmosphere
Private Room
ENVIRONMENT External factors that may be manipulated to enhance comfort.
“When comfort care is the framework for nursing practice, each intervention is important if it enhances comfort,” (Kolcaba, 1995).

4. Assess for patient needs
Repositioning
Ensure assistive devices available (glasses, hearing aids, mobility)
Guided imagery
Massage
Ambulation
Range of Motion
Reorientation
Teaching
NURSING Non-medical interventions that are provided to improve comfort and potentiate health.
“The nurse is engaged, interprets the needs of the patient, and envisions ways to enhance comfort,” (Chinn & Kramer, 1991, as cited in Kolcaba, 1995).

5. HEALTH Goal of optimal functioning through attention to comfort needs.
Medications administered appropriately
Rehabilitation
Referrals to social service programs
Comprehensive discharge planning
Care plan explained and continued post discharge
Progression to previous baseline or improved level
“Comfort is a holistic state that captures many of the simultaneous and interrelated aspects of positive human experience,” (Kolcaba & Steiner, 2000)

6. References
Kolcaba, K. (1995). Comfort as a process and product, merged in holistic-nursing art. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 13 (117), Retrieved from DOI: / Kolcaba, K., & Steiner, R. (2000). Empirical evidence for the nature of holistic comfort. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 18(46), Retrieved from DOI: / Kolcaba, K., Tilton, C., & Drouin, C. (2006). Comfort theory: A unifying framework to enhance the practice environment. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 36(11), %20Comfort%20Theory%20A%20unifying%20framework %20to%20enhance%20the%20practice%20environment.p df