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Katherine Kolcaba's Comfort Theory Analysis

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Katherine Kolcaba developed the Comfort theory in the 1990s. In her theory, Kolcaba explains that there are three types of well being: relief, ease and transcendence. Relief refers to physical comfort, alleviating symptoms such as pain, nausea, fatigue, etc. If the patient has reached a level of comfort from a physical standpoint, then they will feel at ease which is the mood a person has when dealing with adverse situations of high stress and anxiety. Lastly, transcendence is the state of mind in which the patient feels as if they can deal with the challenges life may bring. To develop her theory, Kolcaba created an analysis of the concept of comfort, revising literature from several professions including nursing, medicine, pathology and ergonomics. …show more content…

For example, a patient with advanced stages of cancer, complaining about pain, nausea and mental and physical fatigue to the point of expressing the desire to die, the advanced nurse will attempt to calm the mental agony the patient feels. The NP should be knowledgeable of the resources existent to help the patient such as pastoral services, social workers, counselors, and evaluation for hospice. Factors like socio-cultural that are affecting the patient, such as lack of family support, a dysfunctional family or high levels of stress in the family, should also be …show more content…

Standard interventions are those applied by norm, such as analgesics, antiemetic’s and everything necessary to keep the patient hemodynamically stable. Coaching interventions are focused on minimizing fear, anxiety and the stress of the patient and their family. Finally, the interventions to help the soul are other actions the nurse can do to facilitate the well being of the patient and their family, such as a massage, relaxation techniques, meditation, and applying modalities of integral nursing or holistic like energy healing (Medscape multispecialty, 2005). On several occasions, the advanced nurse will encounter patients whose only goal is to have a peaceful death, without suffering, although sometimes it is difficult to accept, as professionals we must adopt ethical aptitude as well as in areas of desires, rights and reality of the patient’s

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