Hourly nursing rounding and comfort theory application

Nursing Theory

The proposed solution is supported by the theory that hourly nursing rounding allows for better awareness of the patient's situation. Hourly rounding is when a nurse or other medical practitioner visits each patient room once an hour. This allows for more direct care of the patients, and provides the patient with an opportunity to communicate things that they might need or want. The underlying theory is that this provides not only a greater opportunity for the patient to communicate with the nurse, but that it provides the nurses with an opportunity to see for themselves the situation that the patient is in. It is common practice that the patients may be visited only every two hours at night, though this is dependent on the patient's individual situation.

The proposed solution is in line with the comfort theory, which is a mid-level nursing theory advocating that people seek comfort, and that when nurses are able to provide comfort that will enhance patient outcomes. Comfort is comes in three forms -- relief, ease and transcendence so the first is relief (AIPPG, 2011). The nurse making rounds hourly can provide relief from whatever discomfort a patient is feeling more readily, as they have this high frequency of communication with the patient.

The comfort theory ties in with other theories, like Roy's theory about interdependence. For example, when a patient has discomfort, that creates a state of anxiety. One of the things a nurse can do to help is to create a state of ease. In a state of ease, a patient is in a better situation to recover from their other ailments. The fact that the mental and psychological state links up with the state of physical healing means that when nurses are able to provide for better comfort for their patients, the patients should also see better physical outcomes.

With hourly rounding, there will be other benefits such as fewer times the patient has to press the call light, faster responses to the issues and discomforts that the patient might feel and other outcomes. As noted, the customer service will improve and the standard of care will be higher with the hourly rounding done by nurses during the day and bi-hourly at night when the patient is probably sleeping.