Enhancing patients' trust in the virtual home healthcare nurse.

Typically, patients develop trusting relationships with their nurses through a variety of face-to-face, often hands-on, interpersonal interactions that convey the nurse's ability, integrity, and benevolence. However, in telehome care, face-to-face interaction is limited, so nurses must learn to use different strategies to convey those professional characteristics that promote patients' trust. This study explores the nature of trust and the way it develops, and suggests strategies that can be used by telehome care nurses to counter any barriers to trust imposed by the technology.