Dr. Katharine Kolcaba is a nursing theorist who developed the Comfort Theory in the 1990s. It is a mid-range nursing theory that she is still researching and refining today.
Personal Life
Dr. Kolcaba was born as Katharine Arnold on December 28, 1944, in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from Mayfield High School, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in 1962, she entered St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated with a diploma in nursing in 1965.
After a long career, Dr. Kolcaba retired from full-time teaching in 2007 but is still a part-time professor at the University of Akron, Ohio, and works with researchers and students on the website that she has created. Her volunteer activities include Elderlife, an outreach network for older people in her area. She also developed and is active in a parish nursing service that serves elders in the community. The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau also benefit from her involvement. She is an advocate of healthy aging and walks and works •
Biography
Posted onJune 27, 2013byjohanearl
Biography of Ms. Katharine Kolcaba
1944 Born in Cleveland, Ohio
1965 Graduated with diploma of nursing from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing
1987 Graduated with RN MSN from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)
1987 Began teaching at The University of Akron College of Nursing
1991-2001 Development of Comfort Theory
1991 Published article A taxonomic structure for the concept of nursing
Began development of cell grid diagramming types of comfort and context in which comfort occurs
1991 Published article An analysis of the concept of comfort
Analysis of the word “comfort,” from its Latin roots to the meaning in everyday language. Article also includes how the word has been used
1994 Published article A theory of holistic comfort in nursing
Began developing a diagram of the aspects of comfort. Article also includes six defining factors that examine why comfort is a significant middle range theory
1995 Published article The art of comfort care
Describes benefits of includin •
She was born on December 8, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio. She is an American nursing theorist and nursing professor. She developed the comfort theory, a mid range nursing theory that has been implemented at the institutional level. Dr. Kolcaba earned a nursing diploma from St. Luke’s Hospital school of Nursing in 1965. She earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in 1978 and her doctoral degree in Philosophy from the same school in 1997. She got the distinguished alumni award from Cleveland and St. Lukes Nurses’ Alumni Association in 2007. Dr. Kolcaba is an associate professor Emeritus at University of Akron. She holds an adjunct position in Ursuline College.
Miami Children’s Hospital Chief Nursing Officer, Jackie Gonzales (left) & Dr. Kathy Kolcaba (right) during the MAGNET redesignation consultation, March 21, 2012. Retrieved from http://comfortisstrength.blogspot.com/2012/04/comfort-applied-at-miami-childrens.html
Here is a video of a short biography of Katharine Kolcaba and overview of her Comfort Theory: