Using Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory in Nursing Research: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

Kolcaba had developed a theoretical framework for the work on comfort in nursing and has greatly influenced nursing profession, conceptualizing care as the immediate and holistic experience of feeling strengthened by meeting the needs of three types of comfort know as relief, ease and transcendence in the four contexts of holistic human experience such as physical, psychospiritual, social-cultural and environmental. Because of its easily searchable, understandable, and applicable; comfort theory is one of the most frequently used models that guide nursing research. Five studies that utilized different concepts and propositions of comfort theory were discussed. The three focused comfort type and context and two studies focused a Comfort Interventions and Health-Seeking Behaviors. Three of these studies supported comfort theory propositions one study provided partial support and one study did not.