Comforting Nurse: Patient's Experiences and Perceptions

Patients’ comfort is an integral part of nursing care and a valued outcome of nursing actions. This article is part of a larger study which aimed to explore patients’ experiences and perceptions of comfort and discomfort. A qualitative approach using grounded theory was adopted. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and participants’ observations. A purposive sample of 31 medical-surgical patients, and also 10 relatives who were subjected to questions and constant comparative analysis were selected from 5 educational health centers. Data analysis uncovered a number of themes. The theme of patients’ perceptions and experiences with nurses is the subject of this paper. The other four themes of a comforting nurse were: availability, monitoring, humanistic approach and providing physical comfort. The findings of this study help nurses to know the patients and their needs better and also to find what comfort means to them. Consequently, nurses can plan, imply and evaluate nursing interventions most appropriately.