Comfort Theory And Practice

I am most excited and impressed with the scope and focus of this work. As I began to read it, I had trouble putting it down. It is highly readable, engaging, all-inclusive, and most informative. Jean Watson, RN, PhD, HNC, FAAN I am honored and delighted to recommend this text for all nurses who cared for and care about patients. from the Foreword by May Wykle, RN, PhD, FAAN This book places comfort at the forefront of nursing care, by presenting a carefully researched theory of comfort that nurses can use as a framework for practice. Engagingly written, the book combines a first-person account of the development of the theory with supporting research, and practical information for its application. Kolcaba analyzes the concept of comfort; describes its physical, psychospiritual, environmental and sociocultural components; evaluates its meaning in the many different contexts in which health care occurs; and describes how it can be measured. The appendix includes comfort care questionnaires that can be used with patients in many settings, and a comfort scale that can be used with patients for a quick assessment of comfort. Clinicians, researchers, educators, and students will find this holistic approach helpful in setting priorities and parameters for patient care.

Noted nursing scholars explore the historical and contemporary theories that are the foundation of nursing practice today. The 5th Edition, continues to meet the needs of today’s students with an expanded focus on the middle range theories and practice models that link theory to clinical practice. You’ll explore the role of these theories in the real-world to see how they guide nursing practice.

This groundbreaking text is the most complete and detailed book devoted to middle-range theories and their applications in clinical nursing research. The book thoroughly explains the process of selecting an appropriate theory for a particular nursing research study and sets forth criteria for critiquing theories. Each chapter includes examples of research using middle-range theories, definitions of key terms, analysis exercises, reference lists, and relevant Websites. Instruments are presented in appendices. New features of this edition include analysis questions for all theories; new chapters on learning theory and physiologic middle-range theories; "Part" introductions to frame the selection process for each middle-range theory chosen; and a glossary of terms.

Three-time recipient of the AJN Book of the Year Award! Praise for the third edition: “This is an outstanding edition of this book. It has great relevance for learning about, developing, and using middle range theories. It is very user friendly, yet scholarly." Score: 90, 4 Stars -Doody's Medical Reviews The fourth edition of this invaluable publication on middle range theory in nursing reflects the most current theoretical advances in the field. With two additional chapters, new content incorporates exemplars that bridge middle range theory to advanced nursing practice and research. Additional content for DNP and PhD programs includes two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness. This user-friendly text stresses how theory informs practice and research in the everyday world of nursing. Divided into four sections, content sets the stage for understanding middle range theory by elaborating on disciplinary perspectives, an organizing framework, and evaluation of the theory. Middle Range Theory for Nursing, Fourth Edition presents a broad spectrum of 13 middle range theories. Each theory is broken down into its purpose, development, and conceptual underpinnings, and includes a model demonstrating the relationships among the concepts, and the use of the theory in research and practice. In addition, concept building for research through the lens of middle range theory is presented as a rigorous 10-phase process that moves from a practice story to a conceptual foundation. Exemplars are presented clarifying both the concept building process and the use of conceptual structures in research design. This new edition remains an essential text for advanced practice, theory, and research courses. New to the Fourth Edition: Reflects new theoretical advances Two completely new chapters New content for DNP and PhD programs Two new theories: Bureaucratic Caring and Self-Care of Chronic Illness Two articles from Advances in Nursing Science documenting a historical meta-perspective on middle range theory development Key Features: Provides a strong contextual foundation for understanding middle range theory Introduces the Ladder of Abstraction to clarify the range of nursing’s theoretical foundation Presents 13 middle range theories with philosophical, conceptual, and empirical dimensions of each theory Includes Appendix summarizing middle range theories from 1988 to 2016

Written specifically for nurse anesthetists, Nurse Anesthesia, 5th Edition provides comprehensive coverage of both scientific principles and evidence-based practice. It offers a complete overview of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathophysiology, and offers practical coverage of equipment and anesthesia management. This edition includes updated information on pharmacokinetics, clinical monitoring, drug delivery systems, and complications, and revises chapters on airway management and anesthesia for cardiac surgery. Written by leading nurse anesthesia experts John Nagelhout and Karen Plaus, this perennial bestseller prepares anesthesia students and CRNAs for today's clinical anesthesia practice. Over 650 figures of anatomy, nurse anesthesia procedures, and equipment depict complex concepts and information. An easy-to-use organization covers basic principles first, and builds on those with individual chapters for each surgical specialty. UPDATED references make it quick and simple to find the latest and most important research in the field. Over 700 tables and boxes highlight the most essential information in a quick, easy-to-reference format. Expert CRNA authors provide the current clinical information you'll use in daily practice. UPDATED pharmacology information includes pharmacokinetics, drug delivery systems, opiate antagonists, and key induction drugs. Over 100 NEW photos and illustrations enhance your understanding of difficult anesthesia concepts. UPDATED Airway Management and Anesthesia for Cardiac Surgery chapters are thoroughly revised. NEW coverage includes robotics, screening applications, and non-operating room best practices.

Increase your racial equity capacity for transformational change The years 2020 - 2021 will be remembered for COVID-19 and racial injustice. COVID illuminated long-standing structural inequities. Increased media focus on police brutality helped fuel a protest movement that underscored the urgency of the moment. In schools, non-profits, and various business sectors, conversations about race and institutional racism are becoming increasingly common. However, most of these conversations are performative and do little to disrupt the status quo. The authors of Humanity Over Comfort aim to move beyond the transactional response of using only conversations to respond to structural inequalities. Alternatively, the authors advance tools that promote transformational change that eliminates the access and opportunity gaps for Black and Brown individuals. Written to cultivate awareness that increases racial equity capacity, this book will help readers Understand historical context and the influence of racism in shaping reality Engage in reflections that connect learning to personal experience Understand the Conscious Anti-Racist Engendering Framework (CARE), which draws from adult learning theory to build community in organizations Leverage one’s span of control to implement practices that incrementally work to dismantle systems of oppressions Direct their increased capacity towards dismantling racially predictable policies and practices Transactional responses to racism perpetuate marginalizing narratives and outcomes and do little to support the humanity of a community, including White members. This book will guide readers towards transformational change to build a system that supports the restoration of our collective humanity.

Communication in Palliative Nursing presents the COMFORT Model, a theoretically-grounded and empirically-based model of palliative care communication. Built on over a decade of communication research with patients, families, and interdisciplinary providers, and reworked based on feedback from hundreds of nurses nationwide, the chapters outline a revised COMFORT curriculum: Connect, Options, Making Meaning, Family caregivers, Openings, Relating, and Team communication. Based on a narrative approach to communication, which addresses communication skill development, this volume teaches nurses to consider a universal model of communication that aligns with the holistic nature of palliative care. This work moves beyond the traditional and singular view of the nurse as patient and family educator, to embrace highly complex communication challenges present in palliative care-namely, providing care and comfort through communication at a time when patients, families, and nurses themselves are suffering. In light of the vast changes in the palliative care landscape and the increasingly pivotal role of nurses in advancing those changes, this second edition provides an evidence-based approach to the practice of palliative nursing. Communication in Palliative Nursing integrates communication theory and health literacy constructs throughout, and provides clinical tools and teaching resources to help nurses enhance their own communication and create comfort for themselves, as well as for patients and their families.

The fundamental function of buildings is to provide safe and healthy shelter. For the fortunate they also provide comfort and delight. In the twentieth century comfort became a 'product' produced by machines and run on cheap energy. In a world where fossil fuels are becoming ever scarcer and more expensive, and the climate more extreme, the challenge of designing comfortable buildings today requires a new approach. This timely book is the first in a trilogy from leaders in the field which will provide just that. It explains, in a clear and comprehensible manner, how we stay comfortable by using our bodies, minds, buildings and their systems to adapt to indoor and outdoor conditions which change with the weather and the climate. The book is in two sections. The first introduces the principles on which the theory of adaptive thermal comfort is based. The second explains how to use field studies to measure thermal comfort in practice and to analyze the data gathered. Architects have gradually passed responsibility for building performance to service engineers who are largely trained to see comfort as the ‘product’, designed using simplistic comfort models. The result has contributed to a shift to buildings that use ever more energy. A growing international consensus now calls for low-energy buildings. This means designers must first produce robust, passive structures that provide occupants with many opportunities to make changes to suit their environmental needs. Ventilation using free, natural energy should be preferred and mechanical conditioning only used when the climate demands it. This book outlines the theory of adaptive thermal comfort that is essential to understand and inform such building designs. This book should be required reading for all students, teachers and practitioners of architecture, building engineering and management – for all who have a role in producing, and occupying, twenty-first century adaptive, low-carbon, comfortable buildings.