A practical application of Katharine Kolcaba's comfort theory to cardiac patients

A literature review of comfort in the paediatric critical care patient

“…Intensive care units (ICUs) are perceived as contexts with strange machinery, endless alarms, unfamiliar people, staff conversations and bright lights; all of these are inputs of discomfort that contribute to the physical and psychological stress of patients (Lawson et al., ; Novaes et al., ). According to the literature in this review, noise and light are the environmental factors that cause the greatest discomfort in the ICU (Achury & Achury, ; Basco et al., ; Berglund et al., ; Gómez, ; Guillén et al., ; Krinsky et al., ; Salas & Gamaldo, ; Wagner et al., ; Wilson & Kolcaba, ), provoking as much as 57% of intensive care unit patient sleep problems (Lawson et al., ). Some studies stress that the noise levels in critical care units very often exceed the limits recommended by the WHO (Bárcenas, ; Bosch, Falcó, Santaolalla, Dominguez, & Jordan, ; Lawson et al., ; Okcu et al., ).…”

“…In spite of the importance of the environmental context of the PICU in the promotion of comfort, the two tools available to determine comfort levels mentioned previously assess only physical and psychological aspects. As a result, it is important to realise that environmental noise, the strong light which may disrupt patients circadian rhythm, and the high ambient temperature are the aspects that most influence comfort in paediatric critical care patients (Achury & Achury, 2010;Achury, Delgado, & Ruiz, 2013;B arcenas, 2013;Basco, Fariñas, & Hidalgo, 2010;Berglund, Lindvall, & Schwela, 1999;Da Silva et al, 2012;G omez, 2013;Guill en et al, 2013;Krinsky, Murillo, & Johnson, 2014;Lawson et al, 2010;Novaes, Aronovich, Ferraz, & Knobel, 1997;Okcu et al, 2011;Salas & Gamaldo, 2008;Wagner, Byrne, & Kolcaba, 2006;Wilson & Kolcaba, 2004). It has been demonstrated that the capacity of children (above all, at early ages) to regulate and control their own behaviour is directly related to their environment.…”

Meta‐analysis: effectiveness of forced‐air warming for prevention of perioperative hypothermia in surgical patients

“…, Krinsky et al . ). A recent study reported that 71% of surgical patients expressed that they felt very cold in the operation room and requested warming support in the postanaesthesia care unit (PACU).…”

Translation and Validation of a Spanish version of the Kolcaba's General Comfort Questionnaire in Hospital Nurses

“…However, since they have been carried out in different socio-cultural contexts, cross-cultural adaptation of questionnaires is necessary while trying to maintain a close approximation to the original one, allowing to measure the phenomenon of nursing comfort across cultures and compare the results with those obtained in other works. If the comfort level of nurses correlated to the quality level of care they provided in English-speaking countries (Goodwin and Candela, 2013;Krinsky et al, 2014;) and their correlation is not examined in Spanish-speaking countries, we may understand the importance of measuring comfort level of nurses in Spanish. The present work aims to adapt the General Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ) (Kolkaba, 1992) to the Spanish hospital nursing context to proceed to the study of its psychometric properties.…”