Caring for and about cancer patients: identifying the meaning of the phenomenon "caring" through narratives.

For several decades nurses have been using the terms "caring" and "nursing." Caring, considered to be a universal phenomenon, has been seen as a nursing term, including all aspects of delivering nursing care to patients. Ten registered nurses selected from hematologic, oncologic, and lung medicine wards were asked to narrate one situation in which they had been able to supply good caring and one situation wherein they had not been able to provide good caring for the patient. To identify the meaning of the caring phenomenon as experienced and expressed by nurses working with patients who have cancer, a qualitative analysis using phenomenologic hermeneutics was used. The narrated interviews, tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim, were analyzed, and a theme was interpreted: developing and maintaining a helping-trusting interpersonal relationship. Five subthemes also were identified: creating an interaction with the patient and the next of kin, acting to satisfy the needs of the patient and next of kin, feeling frustration in the role of caring, being affected by time aspects, and developing self and acquiring insight. It is in caring that nurses and patients connect with one another, are fulfilled, and experience growth. If they work actively with this perspective, nurses will feel fulfilled, not frustrated.