Global Perspectives of Caring: An Integrative Review

Systematic review of the nature of nursing care described by using the Caring Behaviours Inventory

“…It is in line with the historical consideration of caring as the core concept and the essence of nursing, as conceptualised by the academic work of theorist nurses (Drahošová & Jarošová, ), and as a value for nursing practice and a principle for nursing actions (Bailey, ). The positive outcomes obtained through the demonstrations of caring behaviours reinforce the idea of placing caring at the pivotal place of the nursing practice and encourage integrating caring from theoretical knowledge to actual daily practice (Leyva et al, ).…”

“…Other authors propose new interpretations of the concept of caring, considering it a fluid and circumstantial discourse of nursing practice rather than a stable central concept that guides it (Sargent, ), or an “umbrella” concept that collects a variety of ideas, attitudes and actions, thus being more convenient to focus the study on its attributes (Cook & Peden, ). Caring has also been described as a set of displayed behaviours showed in the nurse–patient relationship which include knowledge, skills and specific attitudes (Leyva, Peralta, Tejero, & Santos, ). Caring behaviours can be described as specific, recognisable and observable actions performed by nursing professionals, which cause an impression on patients and on which they rely to judge whether they feel cared for or not (Clark, ).…”

“…Papastavrou et al () claimed that low nurse–patient ratio, work overload and work pressure might force nurses to prioritise the implementation of delegated tasks and instrumental procedures, leaving aside the psychosocial and emotional needs of the patient. According to Leyva et al (), nurses' expressions of care perceived by patients are related to patient satisfaction, so the more care they perceive, the more satisfied they are with the nursing care. For Scott et al (), the type of care that patients expect demands both psycho‐emotional competences of humanised care and technical and procedural skills.…”

Patients’ experiences of nurses’ heartfelt hospitality as caring: A qualitative approach

“…The “how” of providing care has been situated in relational ethics (Cronqvist, Theorell, Burns, & Lutsen, ; van Hooft, ), caring about those cared for (Cronqvist et al., ; Henderson et al., ), and in doing the small invisible services that are not easily measured in practice (MacLeod, ; Pearcey, ; Williams, Kinnear, & Victor, ). While it may still be contested ground, the notion of caring recurs in nursing theory and research as fundamental to nursing education (Adamson & Dewar, ) and practice (Leyva, Peralta, Tejero, & Santos, ). The notion of hospitality in relation to caring is appropriate because hospitality does not need to sit within a specific context, but should instead be envisaged as a “condition and an effect of social relations, spatial configurations and power structures” (Lynch, Molz, McIntosh, Lugosi, & Lashley, , p. 14).…”

“…There have however been a number of relatively recent critiques that delegitimise caring as an essential concept in nursing (Watson & Smith, ), the contention being that the context and philosophical perspective influence how caring is defined. A recent integrative review concluded that caring remains as a complex, inexact, and elusive concept in nursing, in need of further critical development (Leyva et al., ).…”