Graduate student perceptions: feeling the passion of caring online.

The concept of caring in nursing education has been addressed with regard to traditional classroom settings. In addition, research on effective online teaching approaches, differences between online and face-to-face classroom settings, and supporting student success in online settings is readily found in published literature. The question of whether caring can be effectively conveyed in online nursing classroom settings remains unanswered. This qualitative study explored graduate nursing student perceptions of caring in online classes. Doctoral and master's nursing students at a research-intensive university were invited to participate in an online survey regarding how instructors may best convey caring online. Survey questions were open-ended. Themes uncovered in the data included empathetic perspective, timeliness of communications, tone of appreciation, being the best I can be, finding a chord of harmony, and feeling the passion of caring online.