Story Theory
The nursing theory is based on nurses growing relationships with their patients, no matter the time spent with the patient (Piper, 2018). By creating a bond with the individual seeking care, and/or a family member, this allows the provider to have a more clear vision of what is bringing the patient to seek out medical advice or treatment. When the clinician learns more about the patient, they are able to meet the needs of the more clearly and completely (Piper, 2018). For example, by asking a patient probing questions about an incident or a stressor, a clinician may find that what is truly bothering the patient isn’t the diagnosis at all. When a provider builds a trusting relationship, using intentional dialogue, with the client, they open a line of rapport that could be essential in creating a health plan for the individual (Piper, 2018). The practitioner wants to build a relationship that the patient feels comfortable weighing in on, and being apart of their own healthcare teams (Smith, 2020).
Specific Example of Duffy’s Quality of Caring Model
The quality of caring model correlates the patient healing and outcomes to patients feeling cared-for (Smith, 2020). Patients that feel like they were cared about show better, more timely recovery after an illness or injury, and less time spent in a facility following the health mishap (Davidson, 2017). In my role, I could give a hundred examples a day, as to how this theory fits into my everyday life as a cardiac catheterization laboratory nurse. Everyday, I hold hands with patients, explain every step of their procedure, I put pillows under knees, I use warm blankets to be sure patients are comfortable, I ask questions about lives and families and jobs to alleviate anxiety, etc. Much of my position follows Duffy’s quality of caring model (Davidson, 2017). A specific case that comes to mind, for me, was when I worked a trauma step down floor, at a decent sized hospital.
I had just come off my very first orientation, fresh out of nursing school. I was caring for Mrs. H., an 87 year-old patient two days post total hip replacement. Mrs. H’s husband would come to visit, he was in a wheelchair, so we often helped him to her room. That day, Mr. H came to visit his wife and he had a stroke in her room. Of course, we had to get Mr. H to the emergency department, but I had to ask Mrs. H some questions. I found out that Mr. H wasn’t very nice to Mrs. H, and she didn’t want to be with him any longer, but she wanted to make sure he has cared for. During the rest of Mrs. H’s stay, we found separate places for the couple to recuperate, I found her resources for counseling, and helped her find some phone numbers for divorce lawyers.
Davidson, J. E., Baggett, M., Zamora-Flyr, M. M., Giambattista, L., Lobbestael, L., Pfeiffer, J., & Madani, C. (2017). Exploring the Human Emotion of Feeling Cared for During Hospitalization. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 10(1), 1–9.
Piper, L. R. (2018). Mentoring and Caring: The Story. International Journal for Human Caring, 22(3), 136–139. https://doi-org.ezproxy.bradley.edu/10.20467/1091-5710.22.3.136
Nursing theories, right from grand theories to situation-level models, aim at enhancing quality patient outcomes and helping nurses offer the best care. These theories offer guidelines on how nurses can attain better patient outcomes through certain evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions. Nurses can only offer quality services when they identify patient needs and their families which have not been satisfied. One of the theoretical models that assist nurses to offer care is the comfort theory by Katherine Kolcaba. Developed in early 1990s, the model advances the need for comfort for nurses and patients (Vo, 2020). This paper explores the basic tenets of the comfort theory and applies an inter-professional model as a framework to address a nursing management situation.
Basic Tenets of the Comfort Theory
Comfort theory was developed by Katherine Kolcaba in 1990s as a middle-range model to help nurses enhance patient outcomes under their care. Kolcaba was a nurse theorist who worked in different care settings including operating room, long-term facilities, home care, and medical/surgical specialties. Kolcaba carried out a concept analysis of comfort by examining literature from different disciplines that included nursing, medicine,
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