IntroductionCaring relationships are the essence of nursing. Self-care, compassionate care for patients, and caring relationships with other professionals are all part of caring [1]. Preserving a culture of care within a hospital results in higher patient satisfaction, enhanced quality of care, greater teamwork, and better nurse retention. One way to foster a culture of caring is to offer continuing education that focuses on the importance of personal responsibility, self-care, and caring relationships with patients and other professionals. However, insufficient evidence exists in the literature that offering such classes helps create a culture of care within academic medical centers [2]. Therefore, we evaluated the effectiveness of a Re-Igniting the Spirit of Caring (RSC) course in our university medical center.
Theoretical underpinningWatson's core principles of authentic presence, caring for self and others, maintaining balance, using reflection, cultivating sensitivity to oneself and others, developing trusting relationships, and slowing down to allow space for wonder were the foundations for the ReIgniting the Spirit of Caring course and the survey items that were used to evaluate it [1,3].