Comfort care: a framework for hospice nursing

Provision of comfort is paramount to the practice of hospice nurses. However, the approach to meeting needs holistically is often intuitive or based on multidisciplinary rather than nursing models. A review of the nursing literature identified only one article describing the application of a nursing framework to hospice nursing practice. The purpose of this article is to describe a theory of comfort care that offers definitions and a grid for the art of comfort care that are relevant to hospice nursing practice. Using Kolcaba's framework of holistic comfort, nurses can be comprehensive and consistent in assessing comfort and in designing interventions to enhance the comfort of patients and families. The content domain of holistic comfort is conceptualized as interrelated parts (types and contexts) as they are experienced simultaneously. The framework of comfort care, which includes, the content domain and the theory of comfort, is explained and applied through the presentation of a hospice case study. Potential application of the framework to hospice research is proposed.