Perception of the Care Concept by Nurses and the Factors Influencing Their Perception: A Qualitative Study

Background: Caring is a fundamental concept in the nursing discipline. While the term “care” is frequently utilized in nursing literature, its interpretation by nurses is unclear.

Aim: This qualitative study aimed to explore nurses’ perceptions of the care concept and the factors influencing these perceptions.

Methods: Employing a qualitative methodology within a phenomenological research design, this study involved 30 nurses from the medical and surgical departments of a university hospital. Purposeful sampling and in-depth semi-structured interviews were utilized for data collection until data saturation was achieved. The “Nurse Identification Form” and “Evaluation Form for Nurses’ Perception of the Care Concept” were used to gather data. Content analysis was applied to the audio recordings of face-to-face interviews with the nurses.

Results: The average age of the nurses participating in the study was 29.5 ± 5.89 years, and they had an average of 8 years of nursing experience. The majority were female (26 nurses), and more than half had graduate degrees (18 nurses). Half of the participants worked in internal medicine clinics, while the other half were employed in surgical clinics. The study’s findings were categorized into four main themes: definitions of the care concepts by nurses, practitioners of care, factors influencing care, and the significance of care in nursing.

Conclusion: The study concluded that nurses view care as a vital component of the nursing profession. This concept requires further detailed and comprehensive exploration in future research.