[Significance of comforting experiences in mental health. Comparison of experienced comfort in general care and in psychiatric care. (part 2)].

This article provides a synthesis and comparison of three hermeneutical studies of the meaning of the experience of comforting in post-operative, general medical and mental health settings (Bécherraz, 2001; 2002e). The article presents the points of divergence and convergence regarding nursing comforting as reported by 36 "recipient-nurse" dyads and 2 single patients (singletons). Through the course of this comparative analysis, comforting appeared to be comprised of four stable dimensions (relational, embodied, social ties and contextual) and one unstable dimension (spirituality).