The level of comfort in nursing care on the example of patients treated for burns

Introduction: The provision of comfort in nursing care for patients treated for burns is a difficult task. Nursing care in which patients’ comfort is of fundamental significance was implemented by Kathrine Kolcaba.

Aim of the study: To assess the level of comfort in patients treated for burns with regard to selected conditions.

Material and methods: The study included 100 patients treated in the hospital of the Eastern Centre of Burn Treatment in Łęczna, Poland. The study was conducted in the period from March to June in 2015.

The method of diagnostic survey and analysis of medical records. The research was conducted by means of a diagnostic tool – the General Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ) compiled by Kolcaba. The data on social, demographic, clinical and nursing factors were collected from the patients’ records.

Results: The results of the research into comfort in a group of patients with burns carried out by means of the GCQ demonstrate that the physical aspect was rated the lowest – 2.58 points (64.4%) while the environmental one was the highest – 3.14 points (78.5%). The surface body burns examined correlates significantly with the three dimensions of comfort: physical (p < 0.001), the transcendental and social (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The higher the percentage of the body affected by a burn, the lower the comfort experienced in three aspects of the GCQ, namely psychospiritual, social and physical ones. The patients with second and third degree burns differ considerably regarding comfort in the physical dimension.