1. The Comfort Theory
By Dr. Katherine Kolkaba RN
Presented by Sangita Maharjan RN

2. The Nursing Theorist.
Dr. Katherine Kolkaba RN
 Founder of Comfort Theory in Nursing
 Married with two children and eight grandchildren
 Birthdate: December 28, 1944
Education:
 Diploma, St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing, 1965
 RN/MSN Case Western Reserve University, 1987
 PhD. Nursing Case Western Reserve University, 1997

3. The Nursing Theorist
Employment History:
 Co-Chair of the Theory Development Research
Section
 Midwest Nursing Research Society
 Semi retired from The University of Akron,
Associate Professor of Nursing, Emeritus Status
 Consultant, The Comfort Line
 Field of expertise: gerontology, end of life and long
term care interventions, nursing theories, nursing
research, comfort studies, instrument
development, magnet status and enhancing the
work environment for nurses

4. The Comfort Theory
 First proposed comfort as nurse sensitive
outcome in 1992.
 A midrange theory
 A humanistic, holistic theory that is based
on patient’s need.

5. Conceptual Framework of the
Theory

6. Major Concepts of the theory part 1
 Health Care Needs: identified by the
patient/family in a particular practice
setting.
 Comfort is the immediate experience of
being strengthened by having needs for
relief, ease, and transcendence met in
four contexts (physical, psychospiritual,
social, and environmental).

7. Major Concepts of the theory part 2
Health Seeking Behavior (HSBs):
 Institutional Integrity - the values,
financial stability, and wholeness of health
care organizations at local, regional, state,
and national levels.
 Best Policies are protocols and procedures
developed by an institution for overall use
after collecting evidence.

8. Types of comfort
 Comfort as a product of holistic nursing
art. ( Kolcaba K, 1995)
 Relief – the state of having a specific
comfort need met.
 Ease – the state of calm or contentment.
 Transcendence – the state in which one
can rise above problems of pain.

9. Context of Comfort
 Physical – bodily sensations, homeostatic mechanisms,
immune function, etc.
 Psychospiritual – internal awareness of self, including
esteem, identity, sexuality, meaning in one's life, and
one's understood relationship to a higher order or being.
 Environmental – the external background of human
experience such as temperature, light, sound, odor, color,
furniture, landscape etc.
 Sociocultural – interpersonal, family, and societal
relationships such as finances, teaching, health care
personnel, family traditions, rituals, and religious practices
etc.

10. Taxonomic Structure of the Theory

11. The Metaparadigm Concepts part 1
 Nursing: the intentional assessment of
comfort needs, design of comfort
measures to address those needs, and reassessment of patients,' families, or
community comfort after implementation
of comfort measures, compared to a
previous baseline.
 The goal of nursing: providing comfort.

12. The Metaparadigm Concepts Part 2
 Patient: an individual, family, or
community in need of health care.
 Environment: exterior influences (physical
room or home, policies, institutional, etc.)
which can be manipulated to enhance
comfort.
 Health: optimum function of a patient/
family/ community facilitated by attention
to comfort needs.

13. Four Broad Assumptions & Theoretical
Assertions
 Human beings have holistic responses to
complex stimuli.
 Comfort is a holistic outcome of effective
nursing care.
 Human beings have a need for comfort and will
seek comfort wherever possible.
 Nurses are in a position to identify the comfort
needs of their patients, design comfort
measures, and assess outcomes to support
enhanced comfort.

14. Propositions of Comfort Theory Part 1
If enhanced comfort is achieved, nurse,
patients and family members are more:
 likely to engage in health-seeking behaviors.
 satisfied with health care and have better
health-related outcomes.
 Contributes to help the institution remain
viable and flourish.
 agree on desirable and realistic healthseeking behaviors.

15. Propositions of Comfort Theory Part 2
 Nurses identify comfort needs of patients and
family members.
 Nurses design interventions to meet identified
needs.
 Intervening variables are considered when
designing interventions.
 When interventions are delivered in a caring
manner and are effective, and when enhanced
comfort is attained, interventions are called
“comfort measures”

16. Conclusion
Applicable to all areas of the healthcare field,
nursing practice, nursing education, nursing
research to:
 improve societal acceptance
 appreciation of the institution,
 increase patient satisfaction
 comforting the learner or student in an educatio
nal environment.
 test the benefits of comfort on learning.

17. Reference
 Allysa Wolf (2011).The theory paper.
Theory Critique: Comfort. Retrieved from
htttp://alyssamif.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/comforttheory-paper.pdf
 Comfort care in nursing (July, 2010).The nursing
theorist. Retrieved from
http://comfortcareinnursing.blogspot.com/p/nursingtheorist-dr-katharine-kolcaba.html
 Dossey, B. M., & Keegan, L. (2013).Holistic nursing: a
handbook for practice (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones &
Bartlett Learning.

18. Reference
 Erin Carlene ( June 24, 2012).Comfort Theory, Kathy
Kolcaba. Retrived from
http://www.slideshare.net/KathyKolcaba/erinkolcaba
 Erik Neilson( 2013).What are the main points of the
comfort theory? Retrieved from
http://www.ehow.com/list_6821213_main-points-nursingcomfort-theory_.html .
 Malinowski A, Stamler LL( 2002).National institute of
health.Comfort: exploration of the concept in
nursing.Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12207758 .
 Nursing theories( 2011).Comfort theory.Retrieved from
http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/comfort_theory_
Kathy_Kolcaba.html .