The COMFORT Initiative Palliative Nursing and the Centrality of Communication

Little attention has been paid to the specific communication training needs of nurses in palliative care. A narrative-based approach to communication, or narrative nursing, is proposed as a framework for developing holistic communication preparation for nurses. Building on clinical and nonclinical research in hospice, palliative care, and medical education settings, the authors present the COMFORT initiative as an outline of the tenets of narrative nursing. COMFORT is an acronym for communication, orientation and opportunity, mindfulness, family, oversight, reiterative and radically adaptive messages, and team. Explication of each concept is provided alongside a case study vignette that details communication properties at work. Integration of the COMFORT initiative into nursing education is proposed.