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
nursing practice, Katharine Kolcaba stands out of the pack with her focus on comfort. Katharine Kolcaba’s theory touches on the external and internal processes that culminate in the patient perception of comfort lead to an integrated approach to health care. Katharine Kolcaba is a remarkable woman that has left a mark on nursing. Her passion for comfort is something all nurses need to embrace. This paper will explore the life and work of Katharine Kolcaba. Katharine Kolcaba lists one of the most
outcome of nursing care. ” (Kolcaba, Introduction, 2010) Comfort in healthcare is something that many would think would be understood without a theory, but comfort has never been well defined in the past. Katharine Kolcaba is a middle-range theorist who has been developing the Comfort Theory since the 1990s (Comfort Theory: Katharine Kolcaba, 2011) in order to help define what comfort means in the healthcare setting. According to Kolcaba, comfort exists in three forms: relief, ease, and transcendence
A nursing model not covered in class is Katharine Kolcaba and her theory of comfort. b.) mention some background on its development. (7 points) Katharine Kolcaba was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944. She graduated with a diploma of nursing from St. Luke’s Hospital of Nursing in 1965. In 1987 she graduated with RN MSN from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and with a PhD in 1997, and began teaching
of nursing are comfort and caring. The Meriam Webster dictionary defines comfort as easing grief or trouble, as well as giving hope or strength. The definition of caring is showing or feeling concern for others. Theorists Jean Watson and Katharine Kolcaba seek to enhance nurses understanding of caring and comforting patients through their respective theories. This paper will discuss their theories using a stepwise approach. Concepts of Interest Watson’s Theory of Transpersonal Caring is considered
Katharine Kolcaba comfort theory is a middle range theory. Comfort theory developed to look at health practice, education and research. Kolcaba (1990) described comfort as existing in three forms relief, ease and transcendence. Holistic comfort is defined as the experience of being strengthened through having the needs for relief, ease and transcendence met in four context the physical, social, psycho-spiritual and environment (Kolcaba, 2010). The theoretical structure
one of the critical pillars of these theories. The middle range theories are a group of nursing theories that are often limited in scope and their concepts, but more importantly, they provide a bridge between nursing theories and nursing practice (Kolcaba, 2001). These theories address not only specific situations, but also prove to be useful when addressing the challenges the most vulnerable segment of the population endure (Peterson and Bredow, 2010). Theory creation is a powerful tool of the invention
Katharine Kolcaba's Theory of Comfort In the early part of the 20th century, comfort was the central goal of nursing and medicine, and it remained the nurse's first consideration. A "good nurse" was expected to make patients comfortable. Textbooks from the early 1900s emphasized the role of healthcare providers in ensuring emotional and physical comfort and in adjusting the patient's environment. For instance, in 1926, Harmer advocated that nursing care should be focused on providing an atmosphere
Comfort theory by Katheryn Kolcaba is the experience of having Physical, Psychospiritual, Environmental and sociocultural needs met by the relief, ease, or transcendence of each problem. For example pain is the physical issue, Low self-esteem would be a psychospiritual, being in a noisy room can be environment, and not having sufficient finances for sociocultural problems. To relieve any of these problems is to meet each need and solve the problem. Ease is to calm the problem reducing or taking it
... middle of paper ... ...tation/the-comfort-theory McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2011). Theoretical basis for nursing (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Nursing Theories (2011). Comfort Theory by Katharine Kolcaba. Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/comfort_theory_Kathy_Kolcaba.html Ruland , C. M. (2010). Cornelia Maria Ruland. Retrieved from http://www.nurses.info/nursing_theory_midrange_theories_cornelia_ruland.htm Sagar, P. L. (2012)