Chapter 8

Physiological Integrity: Basic Care and Comfort

Providing basic care and comfort for your clients is one of your most important roles. Ensuring that your clients have adequate nutrition and hydration, personal hygiene, and rest and sleep, and that their elimination needs are being properly attended to, are important priorities. Being able to help your clients with non-pharmacological comfort interventions, mobility issues, and assistive devices are also part of providing them with basic care and comfort.

On the NCLEX-RN^® exam, approximately 9 percent of the questions will relate to Basic Care and Comfort. Exam content related to this subcategory includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Assistive devices
• Elimination
• Mobility/immobility
• Non-pharmacological comfort interventions
• Nutrition and oral hydration
• Personal hygiene
• Rest and sleep

Let’s now review the most important concepts covered by these subtopics on the NCLEX-RN^® exam.