Impaired Comfort

Definition
Perceived lack of ease, relief, and transcendence in physical, psychospiritual, environmental,
cultural and/ or social dimensions
Defining Characteristics
Alteration in sleep pattern; anxiety; crying; discontent with situation; distressing symptoms; fear
feeling cold; feeling hot; feeling of discomfort; feeling of hunger; inability to relax; irritability;
itching; moaning; restlessness; sighing; uneasy in situation
Related Factors (r/t)
Illness-related symptoms; insufficient environmental control; insufficient privacy; insufficient
resources (e.g., financial, social, knowledge); insufficient situational control; noxious
environmental stimuli; treatment regimen
Chronic Confusion
Definition
Irreversible, long-standing, and/or progressive deterioration of intellect and personality
characterized by decreased ability to interpret environmental stimuli; decreased capacity for
intellectual thought processes; manifested by disturbances of memory, orientation, and behavior
Defining Characteristics
Alteration in interpretation; alteration in personality; alteration in response to stimuli; alteration
in short-term memory; impaired social functioning; chronic cognitive impairment; normal level
of consciousness; organic brain disorder; progressive alteration in cognitive impairment
Related Factors (r/t) Alzheimer’s disease; cerebrovascular accident; Korsakoff ’s psychosis;
multi-infarct dementia