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Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort
Dana M. Watson
Lenoir-Rhyne University

Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort
Introduction
Today’s healthcare focus is on providing patient-centered, safe and effective care for improved patient outcomes. This focus is not only important for the patient’s health, but has become vital for the financial well-being of healthcare organizations. The United States has consistently ranked among the highest in healthcare costs and the lowest in improving patient outcomes when compared to other industrialized nations (Davis, Stremikis, Squires, & Schoen, 2014). There are multiple national organizations and initiatives designed to improve the state of healthcare in the U.S. and this topic is often debated at all levels of government. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) developed a standard set of survey questions which are publically reported designed to measure patient’s perceptions of their “hospital experience.” The survey instrument is called the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems (HCAHPS) which allows hospitals and consumers the ability to compare hospitals to one another on topics important to patients. The survey also serves as a tool to enhance accountability through transparency and creates incentives for hospitals to improve the quality of the care they provide (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014).
Nursing plays a vital role in the hospital’s HCAHPS comparison measures. The patient’s perception of the hospital “experience” includes several nursing-specific areas: communication, responsiveness, pain control, education, comfort level, and discharge planning. Utilization of Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort places focus on the individual basic needs important to patients that contribute to their overall

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