Effects of Comfort Warming on Preoperative Patients

ABSTRACT
• THERMAL COMFORT IS ONE DIMENSION of overall patient comfort, and it usually is addressed by covering the patient with warmed cotton blankets.
• WARMING HELPS A PATIENT maintain normothermia and appears to decrease patient anxiety.
• AN STUDY WAS CONDUCTED in a preoperative setting to compare the effects of preoperative warming with warmed cotton blankets versus patient-controlled warming gowns on patients' perceptions of thermal comfort and anxiety.
• BOTH WARMING INTERVENTIONS had a positive effect on patients' thermal comfort and sense of well-being. Patients who used the patient-controlled warming gown also experienced a significant reduction in preoperative anxiety. AORN J 84 (September 2006) 427-448. © AORN, Inc, 2006.