We began a comfort room about two years ago, unfortunately due to lack of space, we were unable to carry it out.
That being said, one of my great resources was Gayle Bluebird's site: http://www.bluebirdconsultants.com/index_files/Page340.htm
The workgroup was made up almost entirely of nursing unit staff with help mostly from Ot. Staff had a lot of fears from staff - fear of leaving patients alone in a room and what to have in the room that would be safe yet worthwhile. (We tend to get a number of patients with SIB, so they know what they talk about.) We spent a lot of time talking about this and luckily the staff that remained on the workgroup were invested in the project.
We like the idea of the rocking chair, wanted some mats that could be used on the floor - yoga - or piled up as a seat. We wanted music (CD player locked up with a variety of soothing cd's), a blackboard and chalk, magazines, posters with beautiful scenes on them. We planned to have some lotions in different smells that the patients could use to self-massage. We intended to have some aromatic oils that could be put on a cotton ball to scent the room while the patient was in there. We also thought about allowing the patients themselves to select certain items they could use when they entered the room. We developed some "rules" trying not to be too restrictive but to maintain safety. The OT was quite helpful, by the way, and I would highly recommend having their involvement.
The unit staff discussed this with some of the patients but we initially were not able to have a patient member of the workgroup, something that in retrospect I should have pushed harder for.
I wish I could tell you this worked - but like I said, we havenn't able to implement it…yet. If you're interested, I would be happy to share anything we worked on.
Kathy Allan-Calloway RN BSN BC
Nursing Clinical Coordinator
Broughton Hospital
Morganton, NC 28655
828 433-2252