title: A Systematic Literature Review Toward the Characterization of Comfort.
abstract: Comfort integrates the taxonomies and the classifications of nursing knowledge. Its meaning is not yet clear, although it is an important construct from which theories are developed. This article aims to analyze comfort in nursing scientific literature. The results highlight a particular interest in comfort at crisis situations such as illness, palliative care, or intensive care. Comforting seems to be a complex intervention. More studies are needed to achieve its operational assimilation and implementation in clinical practice, as well as the evaluation of its efficiency and effectiveness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Angiology and Vascular Surgery, Centro Hospitalar de São João, Porto, Portugal (Ms Pinto); Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal (Ms Pinto); Instituto de Ciências da Saúde-Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal (Dr Caldeira); and Scientific and Pedagogic Unit of Medical Surgical Nursing-Nursing School of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal (Dr Martins).
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caldeira
authors.forename: José Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D006379:Helping Behavior; D006694:Holistic Health; D018939:Holistic Nursing; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing