Caring as perceived by qualified nurses in Malta

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate whether caring is perceived by Maltese qualified nurses as a central value in their professional practice. The literature findings have shown that caring is considered as inextricably bound to the values and practice of nursing. Studies of nurses? perceptions of caring have shown that caring is perceived to imply an active response in view of the perceived patient/ s needs. Nurses a 1 so tend to overemphasise psychosocial aspects rather than physical aspects of caring. Nurse researchers and theorists emphasise the importance of developing caring as a work ethic, a professional value, rather than as an affective, emotional obligation. The degree of professionalization of caring is seen as the basis for the professionalization of nursing itself. This project was carried out on two wards (one medical and one surgical) at Saint Luke/s Hospital. The sample population was obtained by census sampling of the staff nurses working on these wards. A questionnaire consisting of both open open and closed questions was used. The open, free-response questions included a definiton of caring and a series of case vignettes, using a projective technique, based on Morrison/s study of nurses/ perceptions of caring. Analysis of the data was mainly qualitative and a series of area representations were prepared to show the degree of the participants' perceptions of caring. The definitions given suggest that for most of the participants/ caring could be defined as the identificatlon and satisfaction of all the patient/s needs, which could be physical, psychological and moral. The perceptions of the caring impIied in the vignettes did not correspond to the defined caring. Caring was perceived fully in five <13.9%) of a total of thirty-six responses of the nine nurses to the four case vignettes, partially in 11 <30.6%) of the responses, and not perceived at all ln 20 <55.6%) of the 36 responses. Caring seems to be considered possible in an idealised nursing context, rather than a value central to the professional practice of nursing in Malta.