Experiences of certified nurse specialists in critical care nursing to care for patients’comfort

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to clarify the experiences of certified nurse specialists in critical care nursing (CCNS) in relation to care for patients’ comfort.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive research design was selected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 CCNS participants, and the data was analyzed inductively.

Findings: We found five categories regarding the experiences of CCNS in relation to care for patients’ comfort; CCNS’ experiences related to care for patients’ comfort are “to begin with, we can’t fully engage in comfort care when patients feel discomfort”, “we synchronize with patients’ condition by facing patients as human beings and by being conscious of comfort”, “we care the current patients’ condition based on their past and future condition”, “we make an effort to comfort patients from the individual care perspective”, and “we sense the comfort from the changes in patients’ response”.

Conclusion: We were able to show a pattern in the field of critical care nursing, such as the set of nurses toward patients’ comfort, the care toward patients’ comfort, and evaluation of care toward patients’ comfort.