1. Theory in Practice
Whitney Ayers

2. Kolcaba- Theory of Comfort
“Comfort is the product of holistic nursing art “

3. Patient-Centered Care

4. Patient-Centered Care
KNOWLEDGE
“Integrate understanding of multiple dimensions of patient centered care “
Patient, Family, Community preferences, Values
Physical Comfort and Emotional Support
Involvement of Family and Friends

5. Patient-Centered Care
SKILLS
Promote patient values, preferences, and needs, implementation of care plan and evaluation of care
Communicate patient values, preferences and expressed needs to other members of health care team
Provide patient-centered care with sensitivity and respect for the diversity of human experience

6. Patient-Centered Care
ATTITUDES
“Value seeing health care situations through patients’ eyes”
Respect and encourage individual expression of patient values, preferences and expressed needs
Appreciate the role of the nurse in relief of all types and sources of pain or suffering
Respect patient preferences for degree of active engagement in care process

7. Theory in Practice Reflection

8. E
I felt that this was a good assignment to complete while we are in our critical care rotation at clinical. End of life and palliative care are seen almost everywhere in health care, but I feel you deal with more deaths in the critical care setting. I felt that this assignment was not a challenge for me because I did my capstone presentation on assisted suicide which is an end of life option. I thought that the information given was very similar to the research I completed for my capstone presentation and paper. I felt confident with this assignment because I feel we have been given many opportunities to deal with nursing theories, and many assignments that dealt with the interdisciplinary team.

9. A
I feel very passionate about end of life care because I feel that it is an area that many people avoid. I think that the patient that are facing death need to have someone to be there for them that is separate from their family. Some patients feel comfortable telling their families everything, but many don’t feel comfortable. Being there for someone in the most trying time can give a great sense of pride and accomplishment. I feel that Kolcaba’s comfort theory is great when dealing with end of life nursing care. Death is highly associated with pain and the comfort theory helps the nurse to work through the comfort needs of the patient. Every patient is different and the pain management with be different for every patient. The comfort theory helps the nurse to understand what steps should be taken in order to ensure that all the patient comfort needs are being meet. The advantage of this theory is that it helps the patient communicate comfort needs to the nurse and then the nurse can communicate this information to the rest of the healthcare team. I think that the use of nursing knowledge with help the communication between team member because it is the nurses job to figure out what the needs of the patient are and it is easier for the patient to communicate their needs to one person that they trust instead of 10 people that they haven’t formed a relationship with.

10. R
I think that Kolcaba’s comfort theory works well with end of life and palliative care because it deals with patient comfort. When it comes to end of life and there is nothing else that can be done to treat or cure the disease process then comfort is the number one goal. This theory helps the nurse to identify the patients’ needs and wishes and communicate those needs to other members of the healthcare team. This way the team can work together to keep the patient as comfortable as possible while still keeping the needs of the patient in mind.

11. N
In the future I feel that I will try and communicate the needs of my patient to all the members of the healthcare team. The nurse spends a great deal of time with the patient and should be able to identify the needs of the patient. I will be sure to treat each patient as an individual and know that every patient has different values and will communicate them in a different way.

12. References
Cronenwett, L., Sherwood, G., Barnsteiner, J., Disch, J., Johnson, J., Mitchell, P., ... Warren, J. (2007). Quality and safety education for nurses. Nursing Outlook, 55(3),
Kolcaba, K. (1995). Comfort as process and product, merged in holistic nursing art. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 13(2),