Objective:

Comprehend what nurses understand as the comfort of a patient in critical condition who is under the effects of sedation in an intensive care unit.

Materials and methods:

A qualitative approach was used, with particularistic ethnography tools. One hundred (100) hours of observation, nine interviews and one focus group were conducted and records were kept in a field diary, all of which made it possible to triangulate, codify and categorize the information in order to obtain a comprehensive view of the phenomenon. The confidentiality of the participants was guaranteed.

Results:

The meaning nurses give to the comfort of a patient who is under the effects of sedation is "to be calm", which is understood as harmony between three associations: environment and company, comfort and protection, analgesia and sedation, each with exclusive but interdependent elements that determine the tranquility of the patient.

Conclusions:

A patient who is in critical condition and under the effects of sedation is not aware of his or her needs. Therefore, it is up to the nurse to identify and satisfy those needs. To do so, the nurse interprets the signs manifest by the patient and applies compassionate care to provide comfort to the person being cared for.

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