Kolcaba's theory of comfort explains comfort as a fundamental need of all human beings for relief, ease, or transcendence arising from health care situations that are stressful. Comfort can enhance health-seeking behaviors for patients, family members, and nurses.McEwen, M., & Wills, E. (2014). Theoretical basis for nursing (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA:

Wolters Kluwer Health Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a m ...

The major concept within

Katharine Kolcaba Katharine Kolcaba (born December 28, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American nursing theorist and nursing professor. Dr. Kolcaba is responsible for the Theory of Comfort, a broad-scope mid-range nursing theory commonly implemented throughout the ...

's theory is the comfort. The other related concepts include caring, comfort measures,

holistic Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...

care, health seeking behaviors, institutional integrity, and intervening variables. Kolcaba's theory successfully addresses the four elements of

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

metaparadigm.March, A., & McCormack, D. (2009). Nursing theory- Directed healthcare: Modifying Kolcaba's comfort theory as an institution-wide approach. Holistic Nursing Practice, 23(2), 75-80. Providing comfort in physical, psychospiritual, social, and environmental aspects in order to reduce harmful tension is a conceptual assertion of this theory. When nursing interventions are effective, the outcome of enhanced comfort is attained. This theory was derived from Watson's theory of human care and her own practice. Kolcaba was a head nurse asked to define her job as a nurse outside of specialized responsibilities. She realized the lack of written knowledge on the subject of comfort being important in patient care. The first publication was in 1994, then expanded in an article in 2001, and further developed in a book written in 2003. Kolcaba's theory became so popular that it was tested in multiple studies such as: women with early stage breast cancer going through radiation therapy conducted by Kolcaba and Fox in 1999, persons with urinary frequency and incontinence conducted by Dowd, Kolcaba, and Steiner in 2000, and persons near end of life conducted by Novak, Kolcaba, Steiner, and Dowd in 2001.

References

Psychological theories Nursing theory Positive psychology {{nursing-stub