What is Nursing Care?: A Case Study of Nursing Care Practice

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the processes involved in nursing care using qualitative investigation. Ten career nurses participated in semi-structured interviews, and the data were analyzed using the modified grounded theory approach. In delivering care, career nurses had difficulty separating from patients’ realities. However, repeated introspection enabled them to recognize their limits as individuals and deal with patients while building mutually beneficial relationships with others, thereby overcoming the previous difficulties. Nurses applied four kinds of care based on their patients’ changing condition: “listening care,” “watching over daily life care,” “handling changes care,” and “seamless care.” They followed this process when rebuilding the lifestyle of each individual patient.

Patient interactions demand introspection by nurses. Individual care is tailored to patients’ condition and nurses build interactive relationships with them, their families, and others involved with patient care.