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Submitted by lindsey0351 on May 10, 2007
Category: Science
Words: 2334 | Pages: 10
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Comforting the Neonate; application of the Comfort Care Theory
Introduction
An anonymous author once said, “In the last stages of a final illness, we need only the absence of pain and the presence of family.” The comfort care theory by Katharine Kolcaba exemplifies this by creating a baseline of quality care that both nurses and doctors can utilize in providing care to a dying patient. Comfort has been called a distinguishing characteristic of the nursing profession yet, until Katharine Kolcaba, had never been conceptualized within a theory for nursing (Kolcaba, 1994). In pediatrics, written protocols for end of life care are more directed at pain relief than providing comfort to the patient. In the area of pediatrics, care is not only provided to the patient, comfort is also provided to the family as they deal with unexpected trauma, congenital malformations, and terminal diagnoses (Kolcaba and DiMarco, 2005). Kolcaba defines comfort as the immediate experience of being strengthened by having needs for relief, ease, and transcendence met in four contexts (physical, psychospiritual, social, and environmental)(Kolcaba, Tilton, and Drouin, 2006). Some of these strategies can be as simple as facilitating a child’s special “self-comfort habits,” such as thumb-sucking, blanket holding, or rocking, and advocating presence of family members (Kolcaba and DiMarco, 2005).
Overview of Selected Theory
Katharine Kolcaba began development of the comfort theory as a graduate student in 1988. The comfort theory was officially published in 1994 and has been modified since publication (McEwen and Willis, 2007). The theory of comfort care is a middle mid-range theory which is easily applied to practical settings by clinicians. In addition, it classifies as a middle mid-range theory due to its recognized ability to be generalized. It also generates testable hypotheses, but is less comprehensive than a grand theory (Fawcett, 2005). The...
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