death.
Mrs. X is a widow and has never had any children. Her sister is previously deceased; but her brother is still alive and lives in Scotland. Mrs. X also has a nephew who lives a few hours away and is her power of attorney. The client likes to keep in contact with her brother and they phone about once a week. She dislikes her nephew, and feels as though he is just waiting for her to die. Mrs. X is at risk for social isolation as she has very few outside relationships. Mrs. X is a recent isolate as her isolation began in her old age (Kramer-Kile et al., 2012).
The comfort theory, by Katharine Kolcaba, describes comfort as “an immediate desirable outcome of nursing care” (Kolcaba, 2010, p. 4). Comfort is described as having three forms, relief, ease and transcendence (Kolcaba et al., 2006). Relief is met in a client if their specific comfort needs, such as pain, are met. Ease is met in a client, if they are in a state of relaxation and are not experiencing anxiety. Transcendence occurs when the client has the ability to rise over their problems or pain. (Kolcaba et al., 2006) …show more content…
Physical comfort refers to all the physiologic and homeostatic functions of an individual (Kolcaba et al., 2006). Psychospiritual comfort is a client’s internal awareness of themselves; this can include self-esteem, sexuality and religion. Sociocultural comfort is described as an individual’s interpersonal relationships and cultural practices. Lastly, environmental comfort refers to the human experience of their external background (smell, light, sound etc.) (Kolcaba et al., 2006). Intervening variables affect the client’s comfort, and are unlikely to change (such as their prognosis) (Kolcaba,