If he paid for each day’s comfort with the small change of his illusions, he grew daily to value the comfort more and set less store upon the coin.” – Edith Warton (1904) (Kolcaba, 2003, p.37)
This quote was mentioned by Kolcaba in her book, Comfort Theory and Practice, to put into words the very nature of comfort, which in her own words was, “dynamic, state specific, an active demeanor, and high-valued.” It says that the more comfort is appraised, the higher its value will be. Comfort is ever changing and unique to a person in different situations.
With the dynamic nature of comfort, there is a need to constantly reassess it. Here is where research comes in. According to wordiq.com, research is an active, diligent and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret or revise facts, events, behaviors, or theories. Theories tested through research become more or less validated and their accuracy is either increased or otherwise.
With the dynamic nature of comfort, there is a need to constantly reassess it. Here is where research comes in. According to wordiq.com, research is an active, diligent and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret or revise facts, events, behaviors, or theories. Theories tested through research become more or less validated and their accuracy is either increased or otherwise.
The comfort theory was first used by Kolcaba in her study in the Guided Imagery (GI) audiotape for women with breast cancer going through conservative treatment (Radiation Therapy). It yielded positive results. Hogan-Miller also approached Kolcaba in using the comfort framework in her study on immobilization of post-angiography patients. Other settings in nursing practice where the comfort framework was used include the burn unit, gynecological examination, hospital ship, medical and surgical, midwifery, hospice, long-term care, infertility, acute care for elders, urinary incontinence, newborn nursery, emergency department, psychiatry and critical care. For each setting, the General Comfort Questionnaire, the primary tool for comfort measurement, was revised to address relevant concerns in other settings leading to the creation of more specific nursing comfort instruments.
Further research based on the theory of comfort will provide a specific framework for other unique type of settings and individualized patient problems for a more patient comfort-oriented care. More observations and results will enhanced previous findings and may yield additional facts for improvement of current nursing practice. Research outcomes will strengthen the validity of the theory and based on recommendations, new policies can be made to apply appropriate interventions for a better nursing care delivery thus, promoting institutional integrity.
As the quote above says, the value of comfort will increase in the nursing practice if more research work will be done in untried settings. There are so many possibilities where the comfort framework can be used. They just needed to be identified.
Reference:
Kolcaba, K. (2003). Comfort theory and practice: A vision for holistic health care and research. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
