Peng Yue1, Tianmeng Xu1, Brian Greene2, Yongli Wang3, Rongjin Wang1, Guizhi Dai4, Lijie Xu1. 1. School of Nursing, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. 2. School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 3. Yuetan Community Health Service Center, Fuxing Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. 4. Yongdingmenwai Community Health Service Center, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China.
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the understanding of caring in the practice of community nursing from the perspectives of patients and nurses. BACKGROUND: An increasing population of patients with chronic disease has produced a need for humanistic caring in communities. As a result, caring has become a core value of community nursing professionals. However, community nurses meet many difficulties in trying to practice person-centred care with their clients. Furthermore, most community nurses-especially in China-lack systematic education and training about caring because the practical meaning of caring in community practice is unknown. DESIGN: The qualitative study described herein employed inductive content analysis. METHODS: Eleven community patients with chronic disease and fifteen community nurses who were nominated as a caring nurse from different community clinics in Beijing, China, participated in thirty-one interviews during January to August in 2018. Nine documents from the interviewed nurses were collected. Both interview data and documents were analysed using strategies of inductive content analysis. The COREQ checklist was used. RESULTS: Patients and their corresponding nurses described a wide range of caring experiences that were generalised into 28 concepts. Caring emerged as an inter-dynamic system that comprised the foundation and quality of a caring relationship, the caring philosophy and behaviours of interactions, and positive feedback from caring interactions. A relationship-based framework of caring in community nursing practice was constructed. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying this systematic concept of caring provides insights that are applicable to the creation of targeted management, education and practice interventions to ultimately enhance the quality of community health care-in China or elsewhere. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The systematic understanding of caring in community nursing practice will inform nurses in community health clinics, their educators and their managers on how to provide care to community patients and how to develop caring competence for community nurses.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the understanding of caring in the practice of community nursing from the perspectives of patients and nurses. BACKGROUND: An increasing population of patients with chronic disease has produced a need for humanistic caring in communities. As a result, caring has become a core value of community nursing professionals. However, community nurses meet many difficulties in trying to practice person-centred care with their clients. Furthermore, most community nurses-especially in China-lack systematic education and training about caring because the practical meaning of caring in community practice is unknown. DESIGN: The qualitative study described herein employed inductive content analysis. METHODS: Eleven community patients with chronic disease and fifteen community nurses who were nominated as a caring nurse from different community clinics in Beijing, China, participated in thirty-one interviews during January to August in 2018. Nine documents from the interviewed nurses were collected. Both interview data and documents were analysed using strategies of inductive content analysis. The COREQ checklist was used. RESULTS:Patients and their corresponding nurses described a wide range of caring experiences that were generalised into 28 concepts. Caring emerged as an inter-dynamic system that comprised the foundation and quality of a caring relationship, the caring philosophy and behaviours of interactions, and positive feedback from caring interactions. A relationship-based framework of caring in community nursing practice was constructed. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying this systematic concept of caring provides insights that are applicable to the creation of targeted management, education and practice interventions to ultimately enhance the quality of community health care-in China or elsewhere. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The systematic understanding of caring in community nursing practice will inform nurses in community health clinics, their educators and their managers on how to provide care to community patients and how to develop caring competence for community nurses.