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. 2021 Mar;35(1):196-207.
doi: 10.1111/scs.12834. Epub 2020 Mar 6.

Humanistic caring, a nursing competency: modelling a metamorphosis from students to accomplished nurses

Dimitri Létourneau  1 , Johanne Goudreau  1 , Chantal Cara  1
Affiliations

Humanistic caring, a nursing competency: modelling a metamorphosis from students to accomplished nurses

Dimitri Létourneau et al. Scand J Caring Sci. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Most nursing regulatory bodies expect nurses to learn to be humanistic and caring. However, the learning process and the developmental stages of this competency remain poorly documented in the nursing literature.

Methods: The study used interpretive phenomenology, and 26 participants (students and nurses) were individually interviewed. Benner's (1994) method was adapted and concretised into a five-phase phenomenological analysis to assist with intergroup comparisons.

Results: Critical milestones and developmental indicators were identified for each of the five stages of the 'humanistic caring' competency. Satisfaction and meaning at work seemed closely connected to the development of 'humanistic caring'. Links emerged between the development of 'humanistic caring' and three other competencies.

Conclusions: Nurse educators might insist on the fact that 'humanistic caring' goes beyond nurse-patient communication and that it is integrated in nursing care. The findings highlight that nurses' working conditions should be improved in order to uphold humanistic caring after graduation.

Keywords: caring; competency; development; humanism; phenomenology.

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References

    1. Létourneau D, Cara C, Goudreau J. Humanizing nursing care: an analysis of caring theories through the lens of humanism. Int J Hum Caring 2017; 21: 32-40.
    1. Watson J. Human Caring Science: A Theory of Nursing, 2nd edn. 2012, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA.
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    1. Logan KA. Meta-Synthesis of Caring within Nursing Education [Doctoral thesis]; 2017.

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