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A study of the comfort needs of patients with advanced cancer

When the focus of care for the cancer patient shifts from cure to palliation, the need for specific comfort measures becomes the primary nursing concern. The purpose of this descriptive study is to identify and describe comfort needs of advanced cancer patients as reported by nursing staff. More than 140 professional and paraprofessional nursing staff members on staff at Calvary Hospital, the only Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals accredited acute-care hospital in the United States that cares solely for advanced cancer patients, responded to a self-report survey that asked the question, “What do you do to provide comfort for patients?” The data, which are descriptive of behaviors associated with providing comfort, were categorized into seven identified components of the hospital's philosophy of care—physiological, psychosocial, spiritual, patient's rights and dignity, family/friend involvement, reduction of the severity of the illness, and use of the multidisciplinary team. The findings suggest that comfort is perceived as encompassing a wide range of nursing activities, as responses were, to a varying extent, representative of all categories. The findings provide areas for consideration when planning comfort measures and may be beneficial in enhancing the nursing care of advanced cancer patients in a variety of settings.