The Significance of Care in Professional Nursing Practice

Care is a human activity defined as a relationship and a process with an objective that goes beyond illness. This article presents the results of a descriptive-interpretive qualitative study conducted to understand how nurses portray their professional practice. Method: A theoretical sampling was done. The participants in the study were nurses (one man and six women). Their average age was 30. The data were collected through a field diary and seven semi-structured interviews were conducted individually and in depth. The interviews were taped and transcribed in their entirety. Tables were developed, along with open axial codification schemes that were used to analyze the data. This was done with the interpretive framework of Moscovicci social representations, which considers four dimensions: information, image, attitude and opinion. Results: The study reveals six peripheral categories that form the significance of care: factors, implications, contributions, applications, beliefs and attitudes. Conclusions: Nursing care is enveloped by and shares the human experience through a transpersonal relationship marked by respect.