Katharine Kolcaba and Comfort Theory Term Paper

Katharine Kolcaba and Comfort Theory - Term Paper Example Purpose of Nursing â€Å"Holistic nursing care† sees comfort as a significant need throughout a person's lifetime (Malinowski & Stamler, 2002, p.599). Some of the indicators of quality and holistic nursing care are nursing outcomes that impact â€Å"holistic comfort† and patient satisfaction (Malinowski & Stamler, 2002, p.601). Kolcaba and Kolcaba (1991) lamented about the lack of richness and complexity of nursing as a science, because of the absence of further conceptualization of critical care terms: â€Å"... meanings of the term [comfort] are not specified† (p. 1301). Boundaries of Nursing Nursing has â€Å"comfort† as one of its fundamental theme, value, and outcome, which differentiates it from other health-related professions that focus on other technical values (Siefert, 2002, p.16). Nursing is related to disciplines of anthropology and psychology. Nursing is associated with anthropology, because both require careful observations and documentation s of observed settings (Kolcaba, 2003, p.23). Nursing is also related to psychology, where comfort is a physical, mental, and emotional state: â€Å"a state of ease and quiet enjoyment, [no] worry† (Kolcaba & Dimarco, 2005, p.188), as well as â€Å"satisfaction† and â€Å"relief† (Tutton & Seers, 2003, p.690). ... ancer and receiving radiation therapy, as well as people with urinary problems or mental problems, or are at their end-of-life stages (Kolcaba & Dimarco, 2005, p.188). Description of Nursing Situations The one nursed has physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental comfort needs (Kolcaba & Dimarco, 2005, p.188). Nurses should be knowledgeable and skilled in their profession (i.e. knowledgeable in communication strategies), sensitive and emphatic to patients who are asking for help and complain about discomfort, and have practical knowledge about medicines (Epstein, 2010, p.577; Stajduhar, Thorne, McGuinness, & Kim-Sing, 2010, pp.2040-2041) and other important non-pharmacological interventions (i.e. massage, as studied by Harris & Richards, 2010) . Quality interactions between nurses and the nurse can be described as resulting to patient satisfaction, because the patients feel relieved in how their comfort needs are met, and they are also satisfied with their relations and interactions with their nurses (Zaccardi, Wilson, & Mokrzycki, 2010, p.138). Context of the Development of Comfort Theory Katharine Kolcaba and Her Comfort Theory Kolcaba (1991) developed the Comfort Theory, because during her course of study, she believed that â€Å"comfort† is not yet fully analyzed as a nursing concept (p.1301). In addition, there is a need for a mid-range theory that has rich concepts and real applications to nursing practice (Kolcaba & Dimarco, 2005, p.188). She also asserted that the nursing profession would benefit from clearer conceptual terms that can be operationalized and measured more accurately. In 1965, Kolcaba obtained her nursing diploma from St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing in Cleveland (Kolcaba, 2003, p.2). She practiced full and part-time nursing