Theory Application Paper
Final paper Theory Application Paper 4000 to 5000 words.
The purpose of the Theory Application Paper is to help you apply your selected nursing theory to your specific area of practice (please select psychiatric nursing for this specific area of practice) . you can still use the comfort theory (Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory as the selected theory)
Please use at least 10 reference and include the textbook
Include subheading!
1. Select a Nursing Theory- Select one specific nursing theorist and nursing middle-range theory that best fits your area of practice. Ex. Pender’s Health Promotion Model, Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory, Beck’s Postpartum Depression Theory, etc)
2. APA Student Title Page– (No Abstract Needed)
· Include the following information on the Student title page in 7th ed. APA format:
· Assignment name in Bold Font: (Ex. Theory Application Paper: Swanson’s Theory of Caring in Obstetrics)
· Skip a Line
· Your Name
· Name of University
· Course Number and Name
· Instructor’s Name
· Date of Submission (Month, Day, Year)
3. Introductory paragraph – Capture the reader’s attention (ex. Grabbing statistics) and introduce the rationale for selecting the specific nursing theory for your area of nursing over other nursing theories (Do not write in first person; Include a purpose statement of what you will describe in the paper as the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.) Next, begin the Body of Paper.
4. Theory Description (Level 1 Header) Briefly describe the theory.Give overview of theory purpose, scope, concepts, structure, and unique focus.
5. Rationale (Level 1 Header) Discuss the rationalefor selecting the theory for implementation in your specific practice setting. (please select psychiatric nursing for this specific area of practice) (Do not use first person)
6. Implementation Plan (Level 1 Header) Describe a plan to implementthe theory in your area of practice for your entire department or organization. (please select psychiatric nursing for this specific area of practice inpatient setting). Plan should be methodical and specific.
7. Barriers to Implementation (Level 1 or 2 Header, your choice) Discuss potential barriers or challenges to the implementation plan and how to overcome these barriers and challenges. Example of barriers psychiatric patient may have… think of their diseases process and inability to learn. Also consider barriers that the nurse may face such as lack of support from managerial staff… lack of government funding for patient lack of insurance to fund care… barriers the patient may face includes- fear of stigmatization, lack of awareness of mental health services, sociocultural scarcity, scarcity of financial support, and lack of geographical accessibility, which limit the patients to utilize mental health services.
8. Conclusion (Level 1 Header) Conclusion paragraph with concluding statements to summarize the content and re-state or re-phrase the original purpose statement.
9. APA Reference Page- Please be sure to support your paper with in-text citations. Please use 5 peer-reviewed resources.
Additional Instructions: Your assignment should be typed into a Word or other word processing document, formatted in APA style. Paper should be a minimum of 6-8 pages in length, excluding the title and references pages. (You may increase the number of pages of the body of the paper up to 8-10 pages if needed). This is a scholarly paper and should not be written in first person. Paragraphs should have a minimum of 3 sentences. Paraphrasing should be done using in-text citations. Direct quotes should be rare and used only when the content can be said in no other way. If using direct quotes, you must include page or paragraph number.
Box 11-6 Propositions of Comfort Theory
1. Nurses and members of the health care team identify comfort needs of patients and family members.
2. Nurses design and coordinate interventions to address comfort needs.
3. Intervening variables are considered when designing interventions.
4. When interventions are delivered in a caring manner and are effective, the outcome of enhanced
comfort is attained.
5. Patients, nurses, and other health care team members agree on desirable and realistic health-seeking
behaviors.
6. If enhanced comfort is achieved, patients, family members, and/or nurses are more likely to engage in
health-seeking behaviors; these further enhance comfort.
7. When patients and family members are given comfort care and engage in health-seeking behaviors, they
are more satisfied with health care and have better health-related outcomes.
8. When patients, families, and nurses are satisfied with health care in an institution, public
acknowledgment about that institution’s contributions to health care will help the institution remain
viable and flourish. Evidence-based practice or policy improvements may be guided by these
propositions and the theoretical framework.
Sources: Kolcaba (2001, 2017).
Figure 11-4 The conceptual framework for the Theory of Comfort.
(© Kolcaba [2007]. Used with permission. http://thecomfortline.com.)
Context for Use and Nursing Implications
Comfort Theory observes that patients experience needs for comfort in stressful health care situations. Some
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of these needs are identified by the nurse, who then implements interventions to meet the needs (Kolcaba,
1995). Kolcaba (2017) stated that “Comfort Theory can be adapted to any health care setting or age group . . .
” (p. 200). Understanding of comfort can promote nursing care that is holistic and inclusive of physical,
psychospiritual, social, and environmental interventions. It is noted that any actually unhappy, unhealthy, or
unwell patients can be made more comfortable (Kolcaba, 1994). Finally, outcomes of comfort can be
measurable, holistic, positive, and nurse sensitive.
Evidence of Empirical Testing and Application in Practice
The General Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ) is a 48-item Likert-type scale that was developed to measure
concepts and propositions described in the theory. The GCQ has been modified to be used for different
populations in a number of studies, and a shortened GCQ (28 items) is also in use (Kolcaba, 2017).
Kolcaba (2017) described development of other tools to assist in research and practice application for the
Theory of Comfort. These include the Verbal Rating Scale Questionnaire, the Radiation Therapy Comfort
Questionnaire, the Hospice Comfort Questionnaire, the Urinary Incontinence and Frequency Comfort
Questionnaire, and the Healing Touch Comfort Questionnaire. In addition, the Comfort Behaviors Checklist
was developed to measure comfort in patient who can’t use traditional questionnaires or other instruments.
A number of research studies have been conducted by Kolcaba and her colleagues using the instruments
listed earlier. For example, Andersen, Jylli, and Ambuel (2014) used Kolcaba’s Comfort Behaviors Checklist
to evaluate the comfort care provided by a group of health providers and Seyedfatemi, Rafii, Rezaei, and
Kolcaba (2014) used her instruments to study comfort and hope among preoperative patients. Whitehead,
Anderson, Redican, and Stratton (2010) reported using Kolcaba’s instruments to study the effects of an endof-
life nursing education program on nurses’ death anxiety, knowledge of the dying process, and related
concerns. Also examining nursing care at the end of life, Murray (2010) used Kolcaba’s instruments to assess
spiritual beliefs and practices of nurses caring for patients at the end of life, along with similarities and
differences in spiritual beliefs and practices comparing hospice nurses and nurses working on oncology and
other special care units.
In practice-specific examples, Marchuk (2016) described how Comfort Theory can be applied in end-oflife
care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and Krinsky, Murillo, and Johnson (2014) explained how
comfort measures can be used to improve nursing care for cardiac patients. Finally, Boudiab and Kolcaba
(2015) presented a comprehensive look at the application of Comfort Theory in directing holistic, quality care
for veterans and their families.