Background:

When facing a critical illness, patients and their families need comfort.

Objective:

To understand how families of critically ill patients experience comfort in emergency settings.

Methodology:

This exploratory descriptive mixed-method study uses semi-structured interviews in a non-probability convenience sample of ten family members of critically ill patients in emergency services.

Results:

Comfort was described as a state/perception of security, with emphasis on psychospiritual and physical dimensions. Comfort-promoting factors were related to nurses’ positive attitudes/interactions and technical-scientific and relational skills, with emphasis on the psychospiritual dimension. Suggestions for comfort promotion focused on the development of relational and communication skills.

Conclusion:

Comfort is associated with the situation/circumstance experienced and is transitory. In emergency services, comfort emerges as a dimension that nurses can adjust by harmonizing interests and performing specific actions that empower the families of critically ill patients.

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