Type of comfort:

 

• Relief – the state of having a specific comfort need met.

 

• Ease – the state of calm or contentment.

 

• Transcendence – the state in which one can rise above problems or challenges.

 

Context in which comfort occurs:

 

• Physical – pertaining to policies and facilities which promote good health habits & quality of life, periods of rest, fair & flexible scheduling, control over resources and patient care decisions, good ergonomics and spatial arrangements, generous benefits & pension plan.

 

• Psychospiritual – pertaining to internal awareness of self, including esteem, concept, values, meaning in one’s work, positive reinforcement, trust, empowerment, creativity, role clarity, support for learning & advancement.

 

• Environmental (Organizational) – pleasing work temperature, light, sound, odor, color, furniture, landscape, etc., distinct & strong nursing dept., flat organizational structure, decrease in non-nursing work, extent of team work and mutual understanding.

 

• Socio-cultural-political – pertaining to ease of relationships with peers, managers, administrators, and other members of the health system, openness with which new ideas are heard and advanced, good fit with organization, inter-departmental cooperation, work load adjusted for precepting new nurses & students.

• ​

 

 

Definintion of Nurses' Comfort:  Totality of embeddedness in an organization based on physical, psychospiritual socio-cutural, and environmental attributes of an institution or agency.