Comfort as a Multidimensional Construct for Pain Management.

Pain is a multidimensional phenomenon which each person experiences in a different manner. However, practice stories delineate patterns in the lived pain experience that can broaden health care professionals' perspective of care needed in the moment. Intentional analysis of practice stories about pain and discomfort led to a theoretical model to guide clinical practice, interventions, and research. Recurring patterns and themes from the stories supported a central phenomenon: dimensions of comfort and relationships between comfort, pain, and internal and external predictors. The author proposes a paradigm shift from pain to comfort, expressed in the Nichols-Nelson Theoretical Model of Comfort. The model, comprising seven dimensions of comfort that can be impacted by internal and external predictors, focuses on comfort, function, and safety, and on the clinician-patient relationship.